tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41639524504597431752024-03-05T16:46:54.010-05:00Parkside MusingsLauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.comBlogger476125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-89399657812933453812022-05-30T09:34:00.004-04:002022-05-31T17:49:05.897-04:00Some Recipes That Are Working for Us<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The Change That Changes Everything, Part 12</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><span style="font-size: medium;">There is a steep learning curve with this shift. There's no getting around it. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you're not accustomed to preparing your own food at home, you have several life shifts going on at once. It will get easier for you, but it will take time. Just take it one day at a time and simplify!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But even if you have been making your own food at home, for the most part, and are just having to change what that looks like, this change is still going to seem impossibly difficult, if not unsustainable, for the first several weeks. Hang in there! It does get much, much easier. I promise.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here is a link to a recipe blog that we started years ago, mostly as a way for several of us to share recipes when friends asked for them, or we wanted to share them among our family and friends. A few of us use it regularly, but most posted once or twice and never again. There are all kinds of recipes on there, posted by all kinds of cooks and all kinds of eaters, using all kinds of ingredients.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have clearly marked all the vegan recipes with the vegan tag, and you can search for them easily. This is where I'm posting a lot of the recipes that have made their way into our repertoire since we've made this shift.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Click here to navigate to that <a href="http://sharecipes.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Sharing Recipes</a> blog, and once there, feel free to join that community using the link in the sidebar at the website.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Good luck! You can do this! It gets easier every single day...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Read Part 13, The Well-Stocked Vegan Pantry and Kitchen</span></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-76836449151793605882022-05-02T14:03:00.017-04:002022-08-02T10:08:51.798-04:00What a Typical Day Looks Like<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Change That Changes Everything, Part 11</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>As I mentioned earlier, one of the big changes we fell into after our first few weeks of eating this way, was to switch to eating our "main meal"—think the typical heavier "dinner" meal most Americans enjoy each evening—to the middle of the day instead of at night, </span><span>unless we are eating socially with others and need to work around more standard mealtimes. (I recognize that having the big meal midday would be challenging if we were not both working from home at this point. More on this point later.)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lots of folks have asked me what a typical day of eating looks like for us, so here it is, loosely chronicled. Since I don't really know which parts of this protocol have worked together to alleviate my pain, I am reluctant to alter or remove any of these practices at this point. It's working for us, so we're not modifying things much.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That said, here's what food and exercise look like in a typical day for us.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>EXERCISE: Each morning (after devotions and reading the news and catching up with texts and emails and such), we usually walk 3 miles or so with our dogs at a </span><span>16–17-minute/mile pace</span><span>. This is done on an empty stomach, with nothing having been consumed but some water. The fresh air and sunshine and birdsong and movement are all really pleasant, and I really miss it if I don't get it. We do this most every morning, rain or shine, and are usually done by 8 a.m. or so.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Again, previously—before this switch, during my "pain-full" years—I was not able to walk this far or this fast. But walking even a little bit each day did help keep my pain at a manageable level even in the old days, so I assume it is a very important part of keeping oneself pain-free. I highly recommend getting out there and moving all your limbs and joints by walking. If you have some other beloved workout routine that is already working for you, then by all means, keep it up!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>I've also recently taken up Pilates, as it feels like a really effective, really safe way of moving and strengthening my body—and I do not fear hurting myself, which I used to do quite frequently when attempting to work out at the gym or using free weights at home. (My body was previously riddled with pain and very injury-prone, all the time!) So, i</span><span>n addition to the daily walking, I also try to do a 50-minute Pilates workout almost every day, if I can craft it into my workday and other responsibilities.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>INTERMITTENT FASTING: It's also worth mentioning again that we try to eat within a condensed window ("intermittent fasting") as much as possible, which for us looks like not eating in the morning before sometime between 9 and 10 a.m., and then trying not to eat at all after sometime between 5 and 6 p.m. We don't pull this off exactly this way every day, of course, but it is just the usual attempted goal. This narrows our eating window to around 8 hours, and widens our overnight fasting window to around 16 hours. Lots of really good things happen when your body is able to fast daily for this long, focusing its reparative energy on things on other than digestion.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Since my husband and I are both working from home, we are able to prepare food and eat it at various times over the course of our waking hours. However, the typical meal/eating patterns we have fallen into look something like this:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>BREAKFAST</b> (as late as practical, but always after 9 a.m.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* <b>fresh juice on an empty stomach</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">NOTES: I alternate here on different days between purified water with the juice of one lemon on one day; fresh celery juice on a different day; and a fresh green juice of celery, cucumber, lemon, and a granny smith apple still other days. I use an Omega juicer for the fresh celery juice or green juice. (Omega and Champion are good brands.) For the lemon water I just use my little hand juicer for the lemon. This is mostly governed by how much time and inclination I have on any given morning to go to the trouble of the more-involved juices...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* <b>some variety of oatmeal bowl</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>NOTES: </span><span> We eat some sort of organic oats every morning, prepared very differently to enhance a feeling of variety. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>--></span><span> cooked <b>steel cut oats</b> (organic ones sometimes at BJ's or Sam's; otherwise I order Bob's Red Mill organic steel cut oats through Amazon)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>--> </span><span>cooked <b>rolled oats </b>(GF organic ones sometimes at Costco; otherwise I order Bob's Red Mill organic thick-cut rolled oats through Amazon)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>--> </span><span><b>"raw bits"</b> (uncooked rolled oats soaked with homemade almond milk) </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>It is very important to buy your oats organic. It is one of the crops </span><span>most sprayed </span><span>with glyphosate and other poisons (along with wheat and legumes). They are sprayed twice during the growing process to fight pests, then again at harvest as a desiccant so that they can force two rounds of growing in one season. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u>To the oats bowl we add</u></b>: </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>* finely diced <b>spinach</b> (</span><span>remember, "beans and greens with every meal"!)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>* smashed <b>white beans</b> of some sort (navy, </span><span>cannellini, great northern, garbanzo)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* any variety of <b>fresh fruits and berries</b> (diced or grated apple, diced or mashed banana, berries, kiwi, peach, mango, fresh pineapple, etc.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* a small amount of some sort of <b>raw nuts and/or seeds</b> (sliced almonds, whole almonds, crushed walnuts, crumbled pecans, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, etc.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* <b>hemp hearts or raw pumpkin seeds</b> daily, for protein</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* <b>freshly ground flax seeds and ground chia seeds</b> daily—I use a designated coffee grinder for this</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">NOTE: I will try to vary this so it feels different every time, but we LOVE having this breakfast every morning, so we wouldn't mind if it felt very much the same each morning. There are times I feel almost manic after my juice and my breakfast bowl, I feel so good compared to how I used to feel eating my other "regular" diet.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>DINNER</b> (early afternoon, usually sometime between 1–3 p.m., but dependent upon when breakfast was, and what the day looks like) </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">NOTE: We've taken to that old vintage tradition of calling the main meal served in the middle of the day, <b>"dinner"</b>—and the later, smaller meal (if consumed), <b>"supper."</b> In our new way of eating, <b>"lunch"</b> is usually reserved for referring to a meal eaten out with friends at a more conventional lunchtime, around noon. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The thing that helped my transition out of the initial "this is impossible and unsustainable," and into "I think I can do this"—after about the first month—was to switch to this way of timing our eating/</span><span style="font-size: large;">thinking about food prep: </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(1) breakfast, followed by</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(2) one big, main prepared meal—for us eaten mid-afternoon—and </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(3) the other (evening) meal as a light, snacky sort of a meal—for us eaten between 5–6 p.m., and only if we're actually hungry.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I do believe that eating the main meal earlier in the day—and going to bed with a relatively empty stomach—is a huge part of the success of this program. Whenever your body is sleeping, but unburdened by digestion, it can focus on autophagy and other reparative functions that help keep your body functioning well. You can read all about this in the books I recommended in an earlier post.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The main midday meal is usually some combination of fresh organic veggies, whole grains, legumes, and nuts or seeds, prepared without the use of any oils or refined sugars. It's more delicious than it sounds, and there is much more variety than it might seem like on the surface!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At first, I couldn't just "throw things together" and was very tied to recipes—which was time-consuming and frustrating—because everything about this way of cooking was new, and I didn't know what to do <i>at all</i>. I had to look literally <i>everything</i> up. That is all gone now, and I can throw things together at the drop of a hat like I used to do, from whatever ingredients I have on hand. Often, I will chop the veggies and dry sauté them with just salt and pepper and an all-purpose spice blend, then ask my husband if he wants dinner to be Asian, or Southwestern, or Indian. The base is fundamentally the same, and only how I would shift into seasoning it and making the sauces and sides would be a little different.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I always make quite a lot, so that we can eat it again in the near future, and I can still freeze some for later. This way, I always have a few things that I can pull out of the freezer in a pinch, so I don't have to cook from scratch every single day.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>SUPPER</b> (evening, but not every night. Around 5 p.m. we start to "check in" with ourselves and decide if we're feeling hungry and will want to eat another meal this day. If so, and I have the energy and the hankering, I'll cook another light meal. But most days, this last "meal" looks something like a sweet potato and greens, or a rice cake with peanut butter and sliced banana, or bias-cut carrots and homemade hummus, or a salad with chickpeas. I don't do a lot of heavy meal prep for this evening "meal." (Think of the way most folks handle lunch on any given day. For us, that smaller, lighter eating happens at suppertime.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, that's it. That is a skeletal outline, in a nutshell, of what this way of eating can look like on a day-to-day basis. It gets easier—both practically and psychologically—every single day. If I were not working from home during the day and therefore able to prepare and serve our main meal midday, I would be preparing the main meal when I got home from work at night but eating it the next day midday, at work. It's a little more work that way—and nothing is ever quite as good reheated as eaten fresh—but rather than eat the heavy meal quite late, after work, I'd prep several of them ahead of time (over the weekends, in the evenings after work, etc.) and eat them midday. Of course, you'll find whatever works with your particular life and goals and practices, as you go along.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I also highly recommend that you download Dr. Gregor's Daily Dozen app (published by nutrition facts.org) which is available in the Apple Store and I'm sure there's one for Android as well. This is simply a daily checklist where you can check off the recommended number of servings of several different food categories, to help you be sure you are getting enough nutrients and calories and plant protein to thrive with a whole food, plant-based diet. It's free and quite handy to use, and it has lots of helpful information about different foods as well.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you have read all of this post and still have specific questions about daily food prep, feel free to reach out to me or to leave them in the comments.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My best advice? Give this way of eating a try—a real, full-fledged, no-cheating, "all-in" try—for a predetermined trial period. (I recommend three months, but you'll know after only one or two if it's helping you at all in any ways that matter enough to you to continue.) Get a physical. Have your bookwork done. Step on the scale. Then give it a try and see where it takes you.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And if you have the sort of miraculous results that we did, let us hear from you!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Read Part 12, <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2022/05/some-recipes-that-are-working-for-us.html" target="_blank">Some Recipes That Are Working for Us</a></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span></span></p><div><span>NOTE: The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not a medical professional or healthcare provider, and I have no professional medical, nutritional, or dietary credentials. You yourself are responsible for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon any information or advice appearing on this site. </span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span><span face="-webkit-standard">Start the story at the beginning with </span><a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a><span face="-webkit-standard">.</span></span></p></span></div></span></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-89788572182217487882022-01-27T17:41:00.016-05:002022-05-02T14:06:33.741-04:00A Word About "Cheating"<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Change That Changes Everything, Part 10</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">First things first, I should probably 'fess up that yes, sometimes I "cheat." </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Our general policy with this new way of eating is to eat food that is as “clean” (pure) and unprocessed as possible—in the form that it grew in, eaten either raw or cooked. This is what "whole food, plant-based eating" is.</span></div>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Sometimes I do “cheat,” however—but only in certain areas... and I try to have it be <b>rare</b>. </span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I <b>never</b> cheat on the vegan piece or the gluten-free piece. No animal products and no gluten, ever. </span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The other pieces I do sometimes “cheat” on, in the following (rare) ways:</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- <b>Refined oils</b>. I’m sure that when we eat out, refined oil is </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">used, even in the vegan/GF food we select. I don’t use any refined oils at home for cooking. (No, not even organic extra-virgin olive oil. Not even organic coconut oil. Not even organic avocado oil. Especially not any “junk” oils like vegetable oil or corn oil or canola oil!) True confession: we do sometimes have popcorn with a little high-quality olive oil from the exotic local oil and vinegar tap house (and nutritional yeast!) on it.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- <b>Refined sugar</b>. I am very strict with this piece of the puzzle because when I cheat with refined sugar—t</span><span>hink a GF pastry treat from the local vegan bakery, or a Chick-fil-A “sun joy” i.e. “Arnold Palmer” here—the</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> familiar band of nerve/muscle pain across my mid back returns </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">within 24 hours!</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Nevertheless, very rarely, I do have it. Interestingly, this band of pain does not return if I have a little bit of pure maple syrup or honey or use some dates as a natural sweetener. I think processed, refined sugar (whether white sugar or brown sugar) must really cause inflammation and other problems, at least in my body! We have not consumed artificial sweeteners (those terribly unhealthy, sickeningly sweet neurotoxins in the pink and yellow and blue packets) for many years now. If you’re still doing so, cut it out! (Actually, do what you want, of course. But I would strongly suggest you stop reading right now and investigate for yourself the many dangers of artificial sweeteners until you become convinced on your own to “cut it out”! But a discussion of that topic is beyond the purview of this post.) Bottom line? For sweetness, stick to fresh fruit, pure maple syrup, local raw honey, and dates—and even then, have it be moderate and rare! Walk away from the rest of it!</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">- <b>Processed foods</b>. I do occasionally have a GF pasta or GF crackers or a GF tortilla of some sort. I choose the “cleanest” possible alternative (fewest ingredients, and all permitted). But in general I try to avoid manufactured foods with barcodes. </span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Now, by way of example—here's a specific question I’ve received concerning vegan cheese. It is “cheating” in both the refined oil category and in the processed food category (if store-bought). So I avoid it. I have eaten a pizza at the local make-your-own-individual pizza) place, with a GF crust and vegan cheese. It doesn’t satisfy the “real pizza" craving for me—and it is definitely “cheating”—so I only do this if this is where someone wants to eat out and I’m joining them. It’s happened once or twice, I think, in six months. (NOTE: Now I order the GF crust, get generous amounts of every veggie and fruit they have, and skip the vegan cheese. It's way more delicious without it!) </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">There’s a vegan cheese spread at Trader Joe’s I bought once—and it’s delicious!— but it’s highly processed so I avoid buying it regularly. I just make homemade hummus instead and eat that on veggies or GF crackers (which are also “cheating”).</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I have saved a couple of recipes for vegan cheese that I plan to try (still “cheating” with oil but not preservatives if I make it homemade) but I haven’t yet because I’m trying to avoid the cheating as much as possible!</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span>My friend Rachel rarely cheats, if ever. She is the one who has rheumatoid </span>arthritis<span> and was wheel-chair bound when she started this. After years of eating this way, she is out of a </span>wheelchair and completely pain-free. Of course she doesn't cheat! She has to eat this way to be able to walk and function.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I have to mostly eat this way to remain pain-free, so I try not to cheat. Since I don't fully understand how and why this has taken away all of my pain (and given me more energy, and improved my sleep), I don't want to mess too much with the variables!</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I do notice a return of some pain when I consume processed sugar, so I avoid that pretty strictly. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I have never cheated on the vegan or gluten-free piece since we started, as I feel certain from all my research that these are very big pieces of the puzzle.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Basically, I guess you will have to figure out what are your pieces that you will allow for "cheating" on, and how frequently. In the words of my daughter to a mutual friend of ours, however: “Don't say it didn't work unless you do it the right way, with <b>no</b> cheating, to see if you get better!"</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Read Part 11, <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2022/05/what-typical-day-looks-like.html" target="_blank">What a Typical Day Looks Like</a></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p style="font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span>NOTE: The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not a medical professional or healthcare provider, and I have no professional medical, nutritional, or dietary credentials. You yourself are responsible for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon any information or advice appearing on this site. </span></div><p style="font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="-webkit-standard">Start the story at the beginning with </span><a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a><span face="-webkit-standard">.</span></span></p></span></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-20575959832413469912022-01-27T17:20:00.013-05:002022-05-01T15:55:43.205-04:00“What On Earth Do You Eat?!"<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Change That Changes Everything, Part 9</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is by far the most common question I am asked by friends and acquaintances (and now total strangers who are friends of friends) who contact me with questions about how to apply this new way of eating.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">First, let me reiterate that I am no expert on <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part_15.html" target="_blank">this way of eating</a>. But I am a few months along this journey ahead of you, and I have leveled out on the (very steep) learning curve that occurs when you first start trying to do this.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is a learning curve. And it's steep! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hear me when I say that I almost quit more than once during the first 2-3 weeks—in spite of my great success getting rid of <b>all</b> of my chronic, debilitating pain, and of feeling better than I had in years!—because I simply didn't know what to make and eat next.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's overwhelming. I get it!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My best advice? Practice intermittent fasting—meaning, don't eat before <sometime between 9:30–10:30 a.m.> or after <about 4:30–5:30 p.m.> if at all possible—and only make two main meals a day.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This was a drastic shift for us, but it made a huge difference in how sustainable this way of food preparation was for us. It was simply too much to try to make breakfast, clean up and figure out what to make for lunch (and make it) a few hours later, then clean up and figure out what to make for dinner (and make it) a few hours after that. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This may be difficult to work into your schedule if you're working full time anywhere but from your home. But it will not be difficult to do as far as your appetite goes. We are never hungry. We are ready to eat by the time it's time to eat again, yes, but we are never <i>hungry</i> between meals. And if we are, we grab some veggies or a piece of fruit and we're fine. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Waiting until between 9–10 a.m. to eat breakfast is easy. Eating your main meal at lunch time (like between 1–2 p.m. ) is great because you eat your "big" meal midday when you are actually your hungriest and when have plenty of time to digest your largest meal over the course of the rest of the day. We "check in" with ourselves when 4 p.m. rolls around to see how hungry we are. If we are still satisfied from lunch, which we usually are, we don't plan to eat much by way of dinner, and just make sure we grab our "snacky food" before 6 p.m. (More on what that might be, later.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you will make this one change—two main meals, breakfast and lunch, and then a light, snack-around dinner if you're hungry—this will immediately become so very much easier.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is a pretty drastic shift. Psychologically, you may not like eating the main meal at lunchtime, especially if you and your family are at work and school all day and won't be able to eat this meal together. We Americans tend to like our big dinners, and we like them later in the day, like at least 6–7 p.m. This is the way we've always eaten. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well, since you're changing everything else about "the way you've always eaten," you may as well change this, too.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This way of eating also necessitates a huge and drastic shift in food prep. Everything takes longer than it used to. Everything is unfamiliar. It takes a long time to research and figure out what to make. Finding recipes. Clearing out your pantry and freezer of what you can no longer have. Restocking your pantry with new staples—after you figure out what they are! Chopping all these veggies!!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hang in there. It really is overwhelming. You really are thinking about quitting and giving up. I promise it gets easier after about 2–3 weeks, if you are a comfortable cook—or at least used to be, with your old way of cooking. If you have never been one to do a lot of homemade meal prep, it may take a little longer, but you <b><i>will</i> </b>get it!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you're feeling overwhelmed and about to quit—this is true at any stage, whether days or weeks or months into it!—Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You will notice in my last post (about coming off of the week-long water fast) that in my first 9 days of eating this way, I ate out a couple of different times (and ate leftovers from those meals at another time, so really I ate that Moe's and Cava food four times) and then I basically ate beans & rice with greens or veggie soup most every other meal.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This won't do for the long run, of course, but if it gets you through... go back to homemade veggie soups and power bowls! (Or even simpler still, eat sweet potatoes and greens, or quinoa and black beans, until you figure out how and when and what else to cook!)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Read Part 10, <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-change-that-changes-everything-part_33.html" target="_blank">A Word About Cheating</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><p style="font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span>NOTE: The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not a medical professional or healthcare provider, and I have no professional medical, nutritional, or dietary credentials. You yourself are responsible for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon any information or advice appearing on this site. </span></div><div style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="-webkit-standard">Start the story at the beginning with </span><a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part.html" style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" target="_blank">Part 1</a><span face="-webkit-standard">.</span></span></div></span></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-35858554772556152622022-01-27T16:36:00.009-05:002022-05-01T15:49:22.938-04:00Yes, I Really Did a Week-Long Water Fast (Twice!)<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Change That Changes Everything, Part 8</b></span><br /><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Do you have to begin this program with a week-long water fast? No. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Let me say it again. You do not have to do the week-long water fast! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In fact, if you're over age 60, they recommend against it. If you're on prescription medications, you must not fast without a doctor's supervision. Even if you're not on any prescription medications, you should not fast for any significant length of time without a doctor's supervision. There are medical residential places you can go that will oversee your lengthy fast—including the safe re-introduction of food afterward—to ensure that you complete your fast safely.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">So hear me when I say that I recommend you consult with those you trust for your healthcare before embarking on a fast!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">That said, I confess that I did not do so. I "consulted" with a friend who had walked this path before me, meaning that I asked her about her research and experience, read some of the books she recommended, and then dove in. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">So, at the request of many, I share with you my experience(s) with week-long water fasting. This is not medical advice. This is simply me sharing my personal experience for informational purposes only, so you will know what to expect if you and your healthcare providers should decide that a week-long water fast would be beneficial for you.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">First things first. Why did I do <b>two</b> week-long water fasts within six weeks of each other? Honestly? Because I have very little will power when it comes to food! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Let me explain. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Last spring, I decided I was going to embark upon a trial of this way of eating. We set the date for the week-long water fast and new eating plan to commence during the second week in July, after our family reunion Beach Week and a subsequent visit from our daughter were over. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">But then I slowly and increasingly found myself squarely engaging in "last hurrah" eating. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I didn't set out to do that. I didn't explicitly plan for that or anything. It just started happening. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"If I'm not going to get to ever have _________ again, I want to have it one last time!" (For me, that blank was full of things like pizza, chicken enchiladas, Gelati Celesti, zucchini fritte at Carrabbas, lasagna, Mexican restaurant food, steak, donuts, etc, etc, etc.) Essentially, I began crazy, out-of-control eating. I quickly realized that I was going to gain 20 pounds before Beach Week, and eat myself into 10 more pounds of weight gain and body damage while we were there! So I finally just decided to do an initial detox fast BEFORE beach week, even though it meant I might have to do another one afterward.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">It's worth mentioning at this point that one is supposed to prepare for the week-long water fast by eating just fruits and vegetables for a couple of days first, to clear your system of any residual animal products before you shut down your system for a while. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I tried to do that. I really did. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I would get up and eat some fruit for breakfast, and be starving by mid morning. I'd grab a few baby carrots or something, but then by lunch I was starving again and I would eat whatever I had around—a cold cut sandwich, some leftover pasta, whatever—and decide to try again the next day. I was running out of time to get the week of fasting—and the week of safe food reintroduction—completed before Beach Week, so I called my mentor friend Rachel and 'fessed up. She said, "Have you eaten lunch yet today?" I indicated that I had (hoping desperately that she didn't ask me what I'd had, because it was a leftover chicken pasta dish) and she said, "Just start now. Don't eat again tonight, and count tomorrow as Day 1." So that's what I did. At the advice of my friend who knows me—or at least my type—well, I just dove in and started.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">For whatever it's worth, since doing the fasts and commencing this way of eating, I am <i>never</i> hungry. I am never "starving and dying for something to eat" like I used to be. I never crave sugar. I never crave anything. I do not feel unsatisfied in any way. But before I started, I not only couldn't <i>imagine</i> doing it, but I couldn't <i>do</i> it! Something changes when you do this... not the least of which is your tastes. (Quite literally!) But I'm getting ahead of myself...</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Below (just for informational purposes so you can have an example of what it might look like) are my notes from myweek-long water fast.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">NOTE: This is <b>not</b> medical advice. This is not any kind of advice. It is<b> not </b><i>prescriptive</i> (as in a model to follow) but rather <i>descriptive</i> (as in a chronicle of what it looked like for me). I hope it helps you to see some of the details of what you might experience if you decide to embark on a week-long water fast. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Please DO NOT embark on an extended fast of any length if you are on any pharmaceutical medications at all unless you check with your physician and have a plan in place for monitoring you during your fast. Since I was not on any medications that I couldn't simply stop taking, I didn't </span>have<span style="font-family: inherit;"> to worry about that piece of the puzzle.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Also note that you will likely feel <i>terrible</i> during your week-long water fast, and you will certainly have much less energy than usual! If you have been taking lots of NSAIDs or other medications for pain, you will most certainly be quite uncomfortable during the first few days of "detox" on the fast. I could not have continued to work full-time or to have continued my usual exercise routine. So be sure to plan accordingly if you decide to do such a fast for yourself.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>Remember, this is descriptive, not prescriptive!</b> I share it just so you can see what happened to me, NOT as a "plan" to follow!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">My Water Fast</span></b></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Practiced intermittent fasting (not eating before 10 am or after 5 pm) and lighter eating for a week before. I like the feeling of being a bit empty at bedtime.</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Began water fast @noon on a Wednesday</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Not taking any pharmaceuticals, including gabapentin, or using c-pap machine. One “normal” bowel movement this evening. </span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 1 (Thursday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Not very different from the intermittent fasting. Stomach growling. Flesh wants to eat but not hungry. No bowel movement today. To bed by 9 pm. Woke at 2-something. Back asleep at 5 am.</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 2 (Friday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Sweaty (like before you throw up during a stomach bug, but hot instead of cold and clammy). Moderate underlying headache all day. Weak and a little woozy all day. Tingly fingers at times. Teeth feel slick (like after you get your braces off) and very clean. Went to a graduation ceremony, moving slowly and sensitive to noise. To bed at 8 pm. Woke at 2-something, back asleep at 5 am till 7:30 am.</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 3 (Saturday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Small, solid bowel movement in the wee morning hours. No more sweating or tingly fingers but still weak with moderate headache. Majorly irritable, with very little patience. I feel worse today than yesterday. Headache is really awful by the end of day. No bowel movement the rest of the day. Can’t get to sleep. Certainly not “beginning to feel better,” as forecast for Day 3. </span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 4 (Sunday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Still have the headache. I am able to get up and make it to church for nursery duty, but mostly sit in the rocking chair and let my husband play with the kids. Go to bed when I get home, though I don’t sleep. Up and soaking in the bath in the late afternoon (my lower back is killing me!) then watching TV with my husband in the early evening. Tiny bowel movement. Early to bed. Still don’t feel better. </span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 5 (Monday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Headache is milder but still present. My lower back is KILLING me. (I had assumed that this was possibly from being rather inactive for several days, but Rachel told me later that the terrible backache is almost always a part of it, for everyone, regardless of activity levels.) We take a slow stroll to my parents’ house half a mile away, visit a bit, then return slowly. Weak and woozy. Soak in bath and have a back rub from my husband for pain. In the afternoon we go to my parents’ house for a cookout with the fam. It’s hard to prepare the salad and also not to eat all the yummy-looking food, but I don’t feel hungry. Feeling slightly better by evening, but certainly haven’t “turned a corner” yet..</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 6 (Tuesday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I would say that yes, today I have technically “turned a corner,” but that phrase doesn’t mean what I thought it meant when I heard that prediction. I feel finally like I may actually survive this. And I don’t have a headache anymore. No "wonderful spike in energy" or "sudden clear thinking" like others describe, but like I have maybe, just maybe, cleared the hard part. Rainy today, so I am skipping the walk. A small, hard bowel movement today.</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 7 (Wednesday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Still feeling weak today, but still somehow better. The pain in my thumb (from before the fast, for months) is gone, and also my shoulder. (It was intermittent “zingy” pain, so I am not sure if it’s totally gone, but I haven’t had it since about mid-fast.) My lower back still hurts. Throughout this process my teeth have been totally “clean” and slick-feeling, like when you’ve just had your braces off. Strange. Still raining so not walking.</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">BREAKING THE FAST</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">NOTE: It is extremely important when breaking a fast of longer than three days that you take great care with "</span><b>reintroduction</b><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">" of food to avoid "</span><b>refeeding</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> syndrome." </b>As noted on Healthline.com, <span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">"</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(35, 31, 32); color: #231f20;">Refeeding syndrome is a serious and potentially fatal condition that can occur during refeeding. It’s caused by sudden shifts in the electrolytes </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(35, 31, 32); color: #231f20;">that help your body metabolize food."</span></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Again, the rule of </span></span><span style="color: #231f20;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">thumb</span></span><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> is that you take <half as many days as your fast was long> to reintroduce solid foods. So, for example, since I fasted for seven days, I needed to take 3-4 days to reintroduce my body to digestion slowly, allowing it time to begin producing all the digestive chemicals needed for digestion of solid foods (which it had "turned off" during the fast).</span></span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 1 (Thursday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">It was astonishing how much stronger I felt after just a cup each of juice and broth! And both were soooo delicious!!</span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 1: green juice of celery, cucumber, granny smith apple, spinach, romaine, and lemon. Homemade veggie broth (diluted). (See "Two Song Soup," below.)</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 2: same green juice but sub papaya for romaine. Homemade broth (diluted).</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 3: sipped broth during community group, spoonful of sauerkraut juice (Bubbie’s brand).<br />
</span></li>
</ul>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 2 (Friday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Took a 2-mile walk today at about half pace. Feeling strong and good. Good energy. Low pain. I’m shocked that I’m not hungry at all or craving anything. Explosive loose stool this afternoon, very stinky. (Lots of floating black lumps that I think were possibly gallstones?) By nighttime my familiar “band of pain” back pain (at bra strap level, which has been with me for years) was <i>really</i> hurting me. Low-back pain from during the fast is gone.</span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 1: green juice and homemade broth (diluted).</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 2: green juice and seitenbacher broth. Spoonful of sauerkraut juice. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 3: spoonful of sauerkraut juice.</span></li></ul>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 3 (Saturday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Our young grandsons had a sleepover last night. We got up and walked 3.5 miles, but I was out of energy by the end. Today I begin eating “solids," but only very soft solids that are more like liquids. More loose stool with floating black things, though fewer this time.</span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 1: green juice, strained seitenbacher broth, small bowl of chunked papaya (about half), spoonful sauerkraut juice and a few tiny sprigs of sauerkraut, chewed very well </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 2: green juice, Two Song Soup (recipe below—eat the veggies and drink the broth.) Couple bites of sauerkraut and spoonfuls of juice, chewed very well</span></li></ul>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 4 (Sunday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Today I feel good. High energy, not much pain. Heading to church, then to finish "the book job”—a clean sweep of our entire book collection, which we had begun but never finished, and which now doesn’t seem as impossible or overwhelming as it has in the past. </span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 1: early, before church: green juice, strained seitenbacher broth, couple forkfuls of sauerkraut w/juice</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 2: after church, we went to Moe’s: shared really clean bowl of cilantro-lime rice, black beans, fresh tomato pico, cucumber, grilled peppers and onions. Chewed each bite to death. Skipped the chips. Drank lemon in water. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 3: sauerkraut, watermelon, cherries</span></li>
</ul>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">After finishing the “book job clean sweep” tonight, my back was hurting and I did the Kathleen “pillow rise” exercise followed by Janet’s abdominal leg lifts. It felt better, and after watching a show with my husband, I was falling asleep in the chair so I just went to bed... at 7 p.m.! </span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 5 (Monday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I fell right to sleep with a face mask and ear plugs at 7 p.m. and slept until 5 a.m.—10 hours!!—with one up-to-pee-but-right-back-asleep moment in the middle of the night! Unbelievable. This morning I feel great! A friend and I walk First Landing with the dogs for 4 miles.</span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 1: green juice, broth</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 2: a bowl of rice, beans, and greens (since Moe's was so yummy yesterday). </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 3: another bowl of same thing, kefir soda, 2 strawberries </span></li>
</ul>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Tonight, I skipped joining my husband and daughter for yummy-looking homemade spaghetti. Heading to bed at 8:30 p.m. with <b>ZERO</b> pain anywhere! I don’t want to jinx it, but I can’t believe it! So happy!</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 6 (Tuesday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Again, I fell right to sleep with face mask and ear plugs (this time at 8:30 p.m.) and slept until 5 a.m.—8.5 hours!—with one up-to-pee-but-right-back-asleep moment in the middle of the night! Again, I can’t believe it! No c-pap or gabapentin and I’m sleeping through the night fine. Still <b>no</b> pain. </span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 1: green juice with some VitaMix berries (with pulp)</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 2: another of the same bowl, kefir soda</span></li></ul>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 7 (Wednesday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Still sleeping great. The weird fourth toe is hurting today (for no reason other than a couple of 4+ mile walks the past couple of days, maybe?)</span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 1: leftover green juice with berries (pulped), bowl of well-cooked oatmeal</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 2: homemade veggie stew, kefir soda</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 3: veggie stew, kefir soda</span></li></ul>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 8 (Thursday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Slept 9-5 last night, without even getting up to pee! Walk 4+ miles with my dad and grandsons. Feeling really good!</span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 1: green juice with juiced berries, spoonful of sauerkraut, oatmeal, 3 strawberries</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 2: half a Cava bowl (mixed greens, brown rice, black lentils, grilled veggies, sweet potatoes, roasted cucumber, pickled onions, cabbage/slaw, hummus) 2 vegan donut holes</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 3: bowl of veggie soup, bite of vegan donut</span></li>
</ul>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Having trouble getting to sleep tonight… ate later in day, ate sugar, up late making food for beach week… not sure reason but still awake at 1:30 a.m. :(</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">DAY 9 (Friday)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Only slept about 4 hours. Walked 4 miles this morning. Feeling droopy and tired. </span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 1: leftover other half of Cava bowl, kefir soda, 3 strawberries</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 2: veggie stew, strawberries</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span>Meal 3: green juice with strawberries and blueberries, bowl of well-cooked oatmeal</span></li>
</ul><div><span style="font-size: medium;">So, there you have it. Just so you know some of what I experienced as I did a week-long water fast, and the things I ate as I was re-introducing food afterward. You'll notice that I relied heavily on a couple of trips to restaurants (Moe's and Cava) and a couple of simple meals (beans & rice and veggie soup), mostly because I had no idea what to eat or how to eat this way. More on that in the next part!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Here is the recipe for the broth/soup that I made for when I was reintroducing food in those first couple of days after the fast. I now make this and freeze it in jars to serve as the base for many other dishes. It is delicious and very healthy.</span></div>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">TWO SONG SOUP* (vegan broth for nourishing, gentle nutrition)</span></b></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Only purchase organic ingredients:</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (put in herb bag)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">bay leaves (5)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">garlic (1 bulb, crush cloves)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">onions (2)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">carrots (5-6)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">parsnips (5-6)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">celery (5-6 ribs)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">celery root, washed well (1 whole)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">leeks (1 huge or more)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">fresh greens (sweet leaves: sweet baby lettuces, baby spinach, chopped romaine)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">nutritional yeast (1/2 cup)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">kombu (laminaria japonica seaweed, Emerald Cove brand)—2 sheets</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">dried mushrooms (forest blend of porcini, chantrelle, etc) (1/2-1 bag)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">strained seitenbacher broth (1/2 cup powder, brewed then strained)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Celtic sea salt (grey, 1-2 Tbsp)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Roughly chop vegetables, but into smaller chunks not huge. Fill stock pot full (they cook way down) and then fill to top level of pressed-down veggies with water/broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer (strong) for 45 minutes exactly.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Serve cooked veggies and broth together as a soup.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">*”Eating leeks and onions by the Nile” from “So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt” by Keith Green</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">*“Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme” from “Scarborough Fair” by Simon & Garfunkel</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>Helpful Videos / Articles on Fasting:</b></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="color: #dca10d; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=amCyI5JBRoc"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=amCyI5JBRoc</span></a></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="color: #dca10d; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319835"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319835</span></a></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="color: #dca10d; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.nateliason.com/blog/5-day-water-fast-health-benefits"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">https://www.nateliason.com/blog/5-day-water-fast-health-benefits</span></a></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="color: #dca10d; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/water-fasting#how-it-works"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/water-fasting#how-it-works</span></a></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="color: #dca10d; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gq.com/story/six-day-water-fast-diet/amp"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gq.com/story/six-day-water-fast-diet/amp</span></a></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="color: #dca10d; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://hvmn.com/blogs/blog/biohacking-water-fasting-all-you-need-to-know"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">https://hvmn.com/blogs/blog/biohacking-water-fasting-all-you-need-to-know</span></a></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="color: #dca10d; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://thepilotworks.com/break-a-long-water-fast/"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">https://thepilotworks.com/break-a-long-water-fast/</span></a></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="color: #dca10d; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/whats-water-weight"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/whats-water-weight</span></a></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Read Part 9, “<a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-change-that-changes-everything-part_27.html">What On Earth Do You Eat?</a>”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span>NOTE: The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not a medical professional or healthcare provider, and I have no professional medical, nutritional, or dietary credentials. You yourself are responsible for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon any information or advice appearing on this site. </span></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="-webkit-standard">Start the story at the beginning with </span><a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part.html" style="font-family: -webkit-standard;" target="_blank">Part 1</a><span face="-webkit-standard">.</span></span></p></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-66860960471468417292021-11-22T16:40:00.010-05:002022-05-01T15:39:47.447-04:00Let's Hear From Some Experts<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Change That Changes Everything, Part 7</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Throughout this experience (of both the week-long water fast and the new way of eating), I have read several books and watched several documentary films that I have found helpful. I have also read and watched lots of anecdotal accounts on social media, which for many is the epitome of shoddy "research." Nevertheless, I found many of them helpful and encouraging, so I will share some of those links, too.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I must warn you that both this investigative journey and the practical experience of fasting and whole food, plant-based eating—should you decide to embark on it—will involve several paradigm shifts in your thinking. You may find yourself doubtful, confused, angry, perplexed, shocked, indignant, frustrated, cynical, and any other number of unpleasant emotions before it's all over with.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In the words of my own father, who is slowly dipping his toes into this way of eating—and who says he is planning to give it a real try after the holidays—"It's pretty compelling stuff."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So here it is, some of the "pretty compelling stuff"... for those who want to read about it.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">NOTE: All of these experts support some version of whole food, plant-based eating. They each differ slightly in the other things they advocate for (and against) in the diet, so it has been freeing (if not also confusing) to read the differing perspectives on the same basic diet plan. Don't be confused or bothered by that, but rather encouraged. There's more than one way to skin an orange!</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">* <b>Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease</b> </span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">by Joel Fuhrman, MD</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* <i><b>Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure</b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* <i><b>How Not to Die</b></i> and <i><b>How Not to Diet</b> (</i>and the helpful cookbooks of the same names) </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">by Michael Gregor, MD, founder of NutritionFacts.org</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* <i><b>The End of Diabetes: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Diabetes</b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">by Joel Fuhrman, MD, which I've not read but my friend Carole did. (You remember, the book she initially said was "kooky" and written by a "quack"!)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We also watched several helpful and encouraging documentaries, including:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* <i><b>Forks Over Knives</b></i> (as of this writing, available on Amazon Prime)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* <i><b>The Game Changers</b></i> (as of this writing, available on Netflix)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">NOTE: A quick internet search will find you lots of articles "debunking" the premises of these books and films, I'm sure. If you don't want to give this a try, don't! If you don't want to eat this way, don't! I'm not trying to convince you of anything.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">However, in my experience, I find that "anecdotal evidence" is only dismissed as insufficient and invalid when you aren't the one looking at an end to two decades of IBS diarrhea (like my friends Pete and Carole); or over a decade of incurable, chronic, debilitating pain (like me); or a dozen years of needing insulin (like Carole's husband), wiped out in two days. Then, the anecdotal evidence will do quite well, thank you very much!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So there are some sources, for whatever they're worth in your eyes. Hope you find it helpful!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Read Part 8, <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-change-that-changes-everything-part.html" target="_blank">Yes, I Really Did a Week-Long Water Fast (Twice!)</a></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span>NOTE: The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not a medical professional or healthcare provider, and I have no professional medical, nutritional, or dietary credentials. You yourself are responsible for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon any information or advice appearing on this site. </span></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="-webkit-standard">Start the story at the beginning with </span><a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a><span face="-webkit-standard">.</span></span></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-8811288036530046002021-11-20T10:19:00.020-05:002022-05-01T15:37:32.872-04:00Some of the Psychological Pieces of the Puzzle <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Change That Changes Everything, Part 6</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">As I’ve mentioned before, I began this eating plan as a trial run, “just to see what happens” and to see if it would help with my horrible chronic pain. I did not set out to change the way I ate forever. In fact, when I first began eating this way, I literally could not even allow myself to think about “regular food” (i.e. the foods I used to eat). I would dismiss out of hand any thought that popped into my head of former treasured foods—pizza, I’m looking at you!—or of any idea that this would be a lifetime change. I just couldn’t “go there.”</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Every day, I would plan for the day at hand, and tell myself, “I can eat this way <i>today</i>.” It was literally one day at a time. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I also found myself struggling desperately with other psychological aspects to this new way of eating. Here they are, in no particular order:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1)</b> <b>“I can eat this way today.”</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This was by far the biggest psychological hurdle. You can’t think about forever. You can’t plan for a lifetime of eating this way. Just do today. The todays will add up until you’ve completed your trial period—however long you gave yourself initially to see if you notice any differences that make you want to continue. For some, it was a month, for some three months. So far, we’ve all made the switch and just continued eating this way, never to stop. But it is because we don’t want to go back. If you complete your trial, and then you want to go back to eating your old way, that’s perfectly your choice. It won’t hurt anything to have eaten mostly vegetables for a few months!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2) “I don’t want to be ‘<i>that person</i>’!”</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This was (and is) a big one for me. I feel dumb being the person who needs a special diet… who eats weird at potlucks and parties and wedding receptions (if she eats at all!)… who takes her own food places… who can’t come to your house for dinner… who is asking about the gluten-free <i>and</i> vegan sections of the menu at a restaurant. (Note: It is challenging to eat this way at a restaurant, but not impossible—and you almost certainly have to fudge on the no-processed-oil part, even if you find places that you can have mostly whole foods that come from plants. But during the Very Difficult First Three Weeks—that initial period when you can’t get your bearings or figure out how you’re going to cook this way Every. Single. Day.—we relied heavily on a trip to Moe’s or Cava to get us through some days!)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>3) “I don’t want to talk about it.”</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I find myself caught in this near schizophrenic place, between wanting to never, ever talk about this, hoping no one ever asks me, especially in front of others… and wanting to tell everyone I know, because I’m convinced they’ll feel better and be healthier if they make this switch. But I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. I don’t want them to roll their eyes at me… to think ”she’s talking about <i>that</i> again,” or “Laurie is at it again with something weird,” or “I bet she’s judging me.” (For the record, I’m <b>not</b> judging you! After all, you’re the one eating conventionally, and I’m the one doing the next weird, counter-cultural thing!) I don’t want to bring it up to people because I don’t want them to think in any way that I think they should be eating this way, too. I totally respect your decision to eat however you want to, and to do so without thinking that I’m judging you for not eating "my" way. But if I think it would help you with some pain or physical issue you’re having, it is hard not to want to tell you! </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That's why I've written these blog posts. Now I can "tell you," without telling you in person, and you can read or not read based on your own interest. Feel free to ask questions, of course (posting them in the comments is fine), but I'm trying to give answers to folks' questions—as they pose them to me—in the blog posts themselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>4) "But I'm a good cook!"</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This one is stupid, maybe, but I'm a good cook. I've spent a lifetime honing my cooking skills, and I make delicious food. Well, delicious conventional food. This way of cooking and preparing food is totally different, and it is totally outside of my element. I am no longer a "good cook" in the same way I was. I feel like I'm having to learn all kinds of new ways of cooking now,.. and even so, it is quite probable that only other whole food/plant-based eaters will find the new foods utterly delicious. This may be, for me, nothing more than the death of some worldly pride, but it is real nevertheless, and it is inextricably bound with the next one...</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>5) "But we feed people!"</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">There's a sign on my fridge that says, "Food is our love language," and it's the truth. For years, a significant part of the way I care for and love people has been to feed them... to cook for them... to have them over and fellowship over a shared meal. Things that are sometimes challenging for others were easy for me: cooking for a crowd, inviting people into your home even if it isn't spotless or the meal is simple fare. <b>This</b> is an entirely different skill set, and I am still—to this day (four months in now)—finding it challenging to cook for a crowd this way. It is expensive to buy organic produce. It is time-consuming to chop all the vegetables... and it takes <i>a lot</i> of vegetables! I'm sure this will get easier as I get more experienced with it, but it is a very real piece of the puzzle for me at this point.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>6) "My face is kind of saggy now."</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This is a piece that is difficult to share (because I feel vulnerable and silly), but there it is. If you switch to eating this way and lose a lot of weight—and if, like me, you carry a lot of weight in your face and are over the age of 50—the skin on your face and neck may sag in disconcerting ways after the weight loss. My daughters assure me that "slim and a little saggy" is far more attractive and preferable to "taut and fat," but it is still a psychological piece of it for me. I do, however, feel far more attractive, slim...saggy skin notwithstanding.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Read Part 7, <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part_22.html" target="_blank">Let's Hear From Some Experts</a></span></p><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4618153883045342466" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.5; position: relative; width: 658px;"><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span>NOTE: The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not a medical professional or healthcare provider, and I have no professional medical, nutritional, or dietary credentials. You yourself are responsible for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon any information or advice appearing on this site. </span></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="-webkit-standard">Start the story at the beginning with </span><a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a><span face="-webkit-standard">.</span></span></p></div><p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-46181538830453424662021-11-18T11:49:00.021-05:002022-05-01T15:33:23.425-04:00Getting Started with Only Notes from a Phone Call (and a Word About the Weight Loss Piece)<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Change That Changes Everything, Part 5</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“What is the name of the program?” This is probably the first thing I get asked most of the time. There is no single “program.” There is no one book to read that tells you exactly what to do in order to start eating this way. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I began this whole thing “cold,” before I had read any of the books I have since read about this way of eating. I called my friend Gloria and had a phone call with her about how she applies this way of eating. (This is the mother of my friend with rheumatoid arthritis who has “managed her symptoms away” with this way of eating.) Gloria is a bit "free-er" and “looser” with it than Rachel is, because she can afford to be. She’s thrilled with how much better she feels, all the weight she lost (and kept off), and all the energy she has. (Even in her 70s she’s still working full time!)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">NOTE: Gloria and Rachel each shared with me, as a friend, her own dietary practices. Neither was offering medical advice or making any health claims for me to follow, nor am I doing so by sharing the conversations here with you Always consult your physician before making any health, dietary, or nutrition decisions for yourself and your family </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">That said, I offer you my notes from those first phone calls:</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>GLORIA'S WAY</u></span></b></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">(She’s a little more liberal and “free” with it than Rachel is.)</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Lost 40 pounds (and 5 clothing sizes) and then leveled out and stayed steady</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">He husband “cheats” at times but mostly eats what she does and has lost 50 pounds. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s2"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">NO DEPRIVATION: "Gloria's rule" is eat all you want, whenever you want, from this list</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">GLORIA EATS:</span></p><ul class="ul1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">All fruit you want anytime</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">All veggies you want anytime</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Grains of any kind (except wheat)</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Legumes of any kind</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Nothing with a face or a mother</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">No oils of any kind</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">No nuts or avocados until you hit your base weight</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">No dairy</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">No sugar</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">No processed or pre-packaged foods</span></span></li></ul><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">HER USUAL BREAKFAST:</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Fresh green juice (celery, cucumbers, lemon, Granny Smith apple, fresh pineapple)</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Turmeric root, ginger root (shot)</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Oatmeal (with raisins, apple, blueberry)</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Side of “larger” fruit (mango, melon, etc.)</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s2"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Snacks: banana, apple, or grapes whenever she gets hungry</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s2"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">HER USUAL DINNER:</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Big green salad w/vinegar (no oil)</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Also another dish (grains, veggies, soup, etc.)</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">HELPFUL PRACTICES:</span></p><ul class="ul1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Keep prepared dishes in the fridge (veggie soup, one-dish vegan meals)</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Beans—freeze 2 C. in quart baggies</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">“The Senate Soup” online but without the ham hock</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Stay proactive with purchasing and pre-cooking</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Clean sweep all forbidden ingredients out of the house</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Order legumes from nuts.com</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Don’t think of what you can’t eat, but focus on what you can have</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Vegan Thanksgiving: Rachel sent formal invitation, sent everyone a recipe card and asked each person to triple it—best family Thanksgiving they’d ever had (all agreed)</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Order Seitenbachen and Rapunzel veggie broth powder online</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Vegan recipes on the internet </span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Coconut aminos, tamari sauce, delicious natural vinegars</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Seasonello salt</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Kroger Italian cut beans frozen</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Gourmet olive oil/vinegar store for natural vinegars (apricot is her fav)</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">“How Not to Diet” cookbook</span></span></li></ul><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Book: <i>How to Reverse and Prevent Heart Disease </i>(Esselstyn)</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s2"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;"><u>RACHEL'S WAY</u></span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s2"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Wheelchair-bound w/rheumatoid arthritis and could not walk unassisted by crutches or go up and down stairs. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Substantial turnaround in 6 months</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Absolutely pain-free after 3 years</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s2"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">JUST KEEP GOING! Take the long view. This is a new lifestyle. It is not about self-control. Get rid of all food temptations for anything you aren’t allowed to have. </span></p><ul class="ul1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Whole food, plant-based diet versus “vegan” (which usually includes processed “substitutes” for animal foods)</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Only single-ingredient foods</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Absolutely no oils ever!</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">No pharmaceuticals at all</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">NO carrageenan, soy lecithin, other additives—and most allergy substitutes (like store-bought oat milk or non-dairy “cheese”) have these</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">No nuts or avocado until you stop losing weight and level out (your “base weight”)</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Eat 2-3 meals per day (for her, at 9,12,4... doesn’t eat past 5 pm)</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Eat to about 2/3 full—never stuff yourself!</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Tu/Th/Su take digestive rest after lunch (skip third meal)</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">No snacking between meals </span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Clint Paddison TED talk </span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Take own food to eating events</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Take kombucha, broth to events after 5 pm and don’t eat</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Be a little hungry by bedtime</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Go to bed by 9 pm (9-12 body repair is most important)</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Plant-based diet will be sufficient for health needs of both kids and adults</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Soup, p. 133 of “Oh She Glows” vegan cookbook</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Any vegan recipes, just skip the oils (leave them out) and double the spices</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Never deprive yourself in the morning—It’s not about willpower! You’ll fail with “decision fatigue” over the course of the day</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Do a clean sweep of all no-no’s!</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Go to bed hungry. Do the hard work of being hungry overnight</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Weight loss not swift (1-2 pounds a week average, but not in a straight line). Metabolism adjusts and makes decisions </span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Body does repair at night when you’re sleeping but not expending energy digesting</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Only eat when hungry</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">Never allow other family members to bring non-allowed foods into the house</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" face="Menlo-Regular"></span><span class="s2">For her, weight and “body image” self-esteem is no longer an issue at all, mentally—she likes that now, she just never thinks about it, like it’s a non issue</span></span></li></ul><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Books <i>How Not to Die</i> and <i>How Not to Diet </i>(Gregor)</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">So those are the notes from my two phone calls from those women. I have since read many books and watched several documentaries, but initially that's all I had to go on. It was enough!</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>A WORD ABOUT THE WEIGHT-LOSS PIECE</b></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">At four different junctures in my life, I have taken a period of time (from one month to four) and utilized NutriSystem or Jenny Craig food to lose significant amounts of weight. Every time, slowly over time, I gained the weight back when I went back to regular eating. That program, and others like it, are very expensive. They do work to help you lose some weight initially, but it is very challenging to keep the weight off. I cannot in good conscience recommend them for someone looking to lose weight and keep it off.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">For me (and everyone I have mentioned that I know personally who has made this change to whole food, plant-based eating), the weight loss has been incidental and not the purpose or point of doing it. The weight loss happens automatically, without your trying to lose weight, and without your being hungry. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Rachel speaks of a "base weight," which is the weight your body "chooses" for you, meaning that you simply stop losing weight anymore even though you're eating the exact same foods in the exact same quantities (which is as much as you want)! This "base weight" is usually the weight you were while in high school or college, before the typical American weight gain of adulthood began for you. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I cannot speak to what happens if you go back to the standard American diet after losing weight eating this way. None of us have done it, because none of us want to go back to eating that way once we've made the switch! For Rachel and Gloria, it has been years. For my husband and me, it has been months.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">People also ask a lot of questions about the initial week of water fasting, and about the books I've read about this way of eating, so a future post will be about that.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Read Part 6, <a href="https://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part_20.html" target="_blank">Some of the Psychological Pieces of the Puzzle</a></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span>NOTE: The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not a medical professional or healthcare provider, and I have no professional medical, nutritional, or dietary credentials. You yourself are responsible for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon any information or advice appearing on this site. </span></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="-webkit-standard">Start the story at the beginning with </span><a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a><span face="-webkit-standard">.</span></span></p></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-91010955949957892782021-11-16T20:17:00.023-05:002022-08-22T18:08:59.410-04:00My Friend Carole and Her Experience with Diabetes, IBS, and Pain<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Change That Changes Everything, Part 4</b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Carole is about the most un-kooky person I know. While I don’t know all of her opinions or practices on diet and “alternative healthcare” and natural things—I never have—I do know that my impression of her has always been that she is scientific, she is methodical, she is “medical,” and “she don’t mess around.” She is no-nonsense, and she dismisses out of hand—quickly—anything that smacks of quackery. (I, on the other hand, have been secretly in the closet for years with things that many would consider wacky—chiropractic medicine, home birth, essential oils, skipping the circumcision and vaccinations for my children, homeschooling.) </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">But we’re not talking about me right now. We’re taking about Carole, and she is not any of those things. She is reasonable and conventional, and she was reluctantly trying this eating plan because she figured, “What have I got to lose?” Like me, I think she was curious to see what—if anything—would happen. I couldn’t escape the fact that I trusted my friend Gloria and her daughter, Rachel, and I knew they weren’t lying or even exaggerating about the benefits they'd experienced. Much as Carole wanted to doubt this whole thing, she knew and trusted me, and she knew the drastic changes I’d experienced eating this way were real. </span></p><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">So, the next morning (after <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4163952450459743175/254293069491796216" target="_blank">the steak dinner</a>), Carole and her husband began this new way of eating. Doug, the diabetic, tested his blood sugar and took his insulin as usual. They ate a full day (of berries and vegetables and legumes, presumably) and went about their lives. The next morning, Day 2 (after only one full day of eating this way), Doug took his blood sugar reading as usual, and it was really low, almost dangerously so. So he took only half of his regular dose of insulin and went about the rest of his day eating the new way. The next morning, Day 3—remember, at this point, they've eaten this way for only two full days—his blood sugar was again almost dangerously low. (And remember, Doug took only half a dose of insulin yesterday!) He became concerned and decided to call his doctor and 'fess up about what they were doing, and ask about his insulin. They told him to just stop taking it, if his blood sugar was no longer high, and to give them a call back if his blood sugar readings went back up. So, since Day 3—after only two days of eating this way—Doug has been off of insulin for the first time in 15 years.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Believe me, I know that sounds like complete BS. I get it. If I heard me telling this story as a stranger, I'd think it was a gimmick and that I was selling something. And totally making up these "miraculous" and "magical" results. But I'm not. You'll just have to trust me on that. Doug, diagnosed with diabetes 25 years ago and taking insulin for 15 years, was totally off of his insulin on Day 3 of this way of eating.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">It's easiest to tell you about it the same way I discovered it, which was over text exchange with Carole on 9/24/21:</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: How's it going? Seriously, I'm dying to know if you're sticking with it and if your pain is improving...</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: We are midway through Week 3. Doug has been off of insulin since Day 3. His blood sugar isn't perfect, but it isn't terrible either. Every day he thanks me for saving his life.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: And you? Noticing any improvements for you yet?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: I feel great, never hungry, tendon pain mostly gone, no IBS issues at all, Zero. Incredible after 2 decades. (Carole had confessed to me during our lunch that day, that she herself had suffered from terrible digestive issues, including digestive pain and unpredictable diarrhea, for the past twenty years. She never went anywhere without a spare change of clothes in her car, which she often had to use. All of those issues have gone away for her since this switch, just as they have for another friend, Pete.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: I KNOW!! It really is unbelievable to me!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: It's insane. Our diet is, amazingly, even more restrictive than yours, though.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: I know. I thought of that! Can he have any grains of any kind?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: Extremely limited (1/8 C). Also no fruit except berries.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: Berries are my favorite fruit by far! I'm glad I was willing to seem like a kook that day as I vulnerably shared the weirdness! LOL</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: I'm grateful.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: I really wasn't setting out to have ANY "converts"! Honest!! LOL</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-size: medium;">And four days later, on 9/28/21:</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: How are y'all doing?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: Great. You?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: Chugging along. It's getting easier and a little more natural/intuitive (to cook this way).</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: I feel like we turned a corner in Week 3 where all of a sudden, it didn't feel oppressively hard.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: I felt that way, too! It was really overwhelming for me at first. At least two weeks, maybe three, of feeling it was just way too much. Now it's becoming more natural and intuitive. Still can't think about “forever and ever” and never having the old foods again. I just think about what I can have, and eat this way each day, and the days go by. We feel great! That helps! Are you still thinking in terms of three months, or will you just eat this way for the foreseeable future? I am the latter, I think. Can't think of going back to that pain voluntarily!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: We said 3 months and then reevaluate, but right now I don't see any reason we would stop.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: That's how I feel, too. Isn't that crazy? Just like that, our lives are totally changed! LOL</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: Becky [her daughter] came over this weekend, saw my kitchen, and said it looks like a health food store! LOL</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: How's your pain?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: No pain. You?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: None! (WHAT?!!) I still can't believe it.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: It is genuinely hard to believe that this simple solution is all it took.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: It makes me rather furious about the state of "health"care in our country...</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: Yes!!!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: I have spent tens of thousands of dollars in tests and procedures and pills over the past dozen or so years, with little relief. And this stupidly easy shift in diet has me pain-free with high energy in a matter of days?! WTH is THAT?!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: I wish some doctor had told us about this when Doug was first diagnosed, before he spent 25 years as a diabetic and 15 years on insulin.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: It is infuriating. And not the least of which is the kooky natural people being right! LOL (And I put myself kinda loosely in the kooky natural category, and share my fake scorn with all affection!)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Carole: LOL I think we're both firmly in the kooky natural camp at this point</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Me: Yes, I meant that I was "loosely" in that category <b>before</b>. Now I feel like the poster child! It's a little embarrassing, really, when I hear some of the things that come out of my mouth. But I can't not share it if it comes up! It's too life-changing and effective! Did you watch the Clint Paddison TED Talk? <i>The Game Changers</i> on Netflix? Evie [my daughter] had us watch the latter a couple of years ago. I watched politely and then secretly rolled my eyes inside and just put to rest the little internal voice that said, "Hunh. Wonder if I should look into that at all?" But it was just too outside of everything I'd ever heard about health and healthy eating, so I never thought about it again until I found us back here again this year.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">And that was our conversation. Carole and I met again for lunch about two weeks later, when Carole was a little over two months into this way of eating. She had lost 30 pounds, has no IBS issues, her pain is entirely gone, and her diabetic husband has been off of insulin since Day 3. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">If you're thinking, "What?! How can this be?!" you're thinking the same thing as both of us. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">So far, I have personal friends who no longer suffer from any of the symptomatology of their discomforts, disorders, and diseases, the list of which is growing by the day: rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, IBS, depression, and chronic debilitating pain, so far. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">We've also collectively lost hundreds of pounds, without trying, and without ever being hungry—in any way—for even a moment. My friend Rachel says that the weight loss will be steady, though not necessarily in a straight line, until one day it will just stop. You will continue eating the exact same way, in the exact same quantities, but you will level out and no longer lose anymore weight. She refers to it as your body's "base weight," and she says it is something your body chooses for you (i.e., you don't choose it), usually right around the weight you were in high school. (Her mother, Gloria, went from a size 10 or 12 to a size 2, then leveled off and has remained there for several years now.) My husband and I are experiencing the same thing. So far I have lost 40 pounds, and it hasn't stopped yet. The amount of food I eat is obscene. And still the pounds drop off, steadily, week by week. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I really do feel like anyone who has <b>any</b> sort of physical complaint whatsoever has absolutely nothing to lose by giving this way of eating a try. You never know! If we're any indication, this way of eating can help improve lots of different ailments.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Read Part 5, <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part_18.html" target="_blank">Getting Started with Only Notes from a Phone Call (and a Word About the Weight Loss Piece</a>)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">NOTE: The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not a medical professional or healthcare provider, and I have no professional medical, nutritional, or dietary credentials. You yourself are responsible for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon any information or advice appearing on this site. </span></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="-webkit-standard">Start the story at the beginning with </span><a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a><span face="-webkit-standard">.</span></span></p></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-59815577356671178642021-11-15T17:37:00.026-05:002022-08-22T18:01:55.357-04:00The Basic Eating Plan<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Change That Changes Everything, Part 3</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Are you absolutely convinced of a connection between your pain and your diet?" This was the question posed to me by my friend Rachel when I called to ask her about the dietary protocol that she uses to manage her own life, diet, and pain. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis as a young mother, she has discovered that eating in certain ways—and not eating in others—has brought her significant relief.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I answered her. "Um, no, not really <i><b>convinced</b></i>, I wouldn't say. I suspect that there <i>may</i> be a connection. I did a gluten-free, dairy-free trial at the recommendation of a physiatrist (a pain-management doctor), and I did notice a little bit of improvement. But nothing like what you've said you experienced. Are you willing to talk to me about what you've done, and what you're doing, and how that has gone for you?"</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Praise God, she was willing to do so! And in springboarding off of her advice and suggestions—and reading many books and other resources that she has found helpful—I have been able to experience that same kind of relief from the pain and discomfort that plagued me for many, many years.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In a nutshell, since it's all anyone really wants to know just now, here it is. (We’ll get back to Carole and her husband’s story later!)</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you are under 60 years old, you begin with a week-long water fast. (It is also recommended that you do so under a doctor’s supervision, which is absolutely necessary if you are taking any prescription medications for cholesterol or blood pressure or diabetes.) The week-long water fast is difficult and challenging, and I will write more about that whole experience later. Many really good things take place during an extended water fast, and most of my debilitating, chronic pain just went away during that week, never to return. (I know that seems ludicrous, and I realize how unbelievable it sounds. But it’s just true!) </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is not necessary to begin with a fast, however, and many friends of mine who have shifted to this way of eating have begun eating this way without doing the fast—and with equally amazing results. So, after the fast—or just diving right in without doing one—you begin eating what is known as a whole food, plant-based diet.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">What you consume (all organic):<br /></span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>any and all vegetables<br /></span><span>any and all fruits<br /></span><span>any and all legumes<br /></span><span>all whole grains (except wheat and barley)<br /></span><span>limited amounts of raw nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and avocado</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><b>What you do not consume</b>:</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>no meat<br /></span><span>no dairy<br /></span><span>no gluten<br /></span><span>no refined sugar or sugar substitutes (very limited honey or pure maple syrup are permitted)<br /></span><span>no alcohol<br /></span><span>no processed/packaged foods<br /></span><span>no processed oils of any kind<br /></span><span>no pharmaceutical drugs</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>There are so many details about all of this, and I will happily be posting all the things I found super helpful, in case anyone wants to try this. But that is the bare-bones skeleton to get you thinking. If you're at all like most of us, you will probably dismiss it out of hand and never give it another thought... at least until you find yourself with some pain, or debilitation, or brush with death via heart attack or stroke, or digestive issues, or diabetes, or, or… and the Lord brings this idea back into your mind, some days or weeks or months or years from now.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>In the meantime, go watch the Clint Paddison TED talk on YouTube. Go watch <i>Forks Over Knives</i> on Amazon Prime. And <i>Game Changers</i> on Netflix. It's pretty compelling stuff. It will at least give you some food for thought (pun intended!) as you decide if you are ready to consider any of these changes for yourself. So far, no one I know personally who’s tried it, hasn’t experienced dramatic and significant improvements in their health as a result. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>And that brings me back around to Carole, my friend with the diabetic husband, whom we left on Day 1 of their new eating plan…</span></span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Read Part 4, <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part_16.html?m=1" target="_blank">My Friend Carole and Her Experience with Diabetes, IBS, and Pain</a></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="-webkit-standard">Start the story at the beginning with </span><a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a><span face="-webkit-standard">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="-webkit-standard"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="-webkit-standard">NOTE: The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not a medical professional or healthcare provider, and I have no professional medical, nutritional, or dietary credentials. You yourself are responsible for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon any information or advice appearing on this site. </span></span></p></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-2542930694917962162021-11-14T22:35:00.027-05:002022-08-22T17:57:34.591-04:00A Reluctant Herald<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Change That Changes Everything, Part 2</b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Three months or so ago I had lunch with an old friend. At the time, I was a couple of months into the new eating plan I have adopted, so I had chosen the restaurant—a delicious local Mediterranean spot with an extensive vegan section to their menu. She had graciously traveled to my part of town to join me there, and much of our conversation that day centered around discussion of the new, "weird" eating plan my husband and I had adopted. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I sheepishly, reluctantly told her about what we had done [begun with a week-long water fast] and what we’re now doing [eating what I called at the time “vegan on steroids”]. Even though Carole is a good friend who knows me well, I felt shy and silly telling her about my experience. (To this day, to discuss it with anyone makes me keenly aware that I must sound like a snake oil salesman pushing something kooky. I don’t prefer to talk about it much—sheepishly keeping it to myself—except when I occasionally feel compelled to shout it from the rooftops to anyone who will listen!) </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Those who know me well, or are in regular contact with me, know… simply because there’s no “not noticing” if you see me in the flesh. First of all, I am about 45 pounds lighter than I was before I started this… and I am in no pain. As in <i>none</i>. ZERO. (This still seems unreal to me, and probably wouldn’t really be believed, except that these people know me well, and they have walked with me through the challenges of unexplained chronic pain over almost two decades. So when I hike eight miles or take a car trip to Vermont, they know something is really, really different! Besides just the 45 pounds.)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I told Carole about the extended water fast that opened this plan. We discussed 'autophagy' and 'cell renewal' and all manner of medical-sounding things. I told her about the food we eat now. I told her about all the specific pains I'd had before the fast, including a daily pain in my right thumb and first two fingers and wrist, which had made writing and grasping challenging, and playing the piano nearly impossible. She told me that she had pain in the exact same spots—and had been wearing braces and supports to try to alleviate it—and that she actually had a doctor’s appointment the next week to see about next steps toward treatment. I remember saying, “Well, my friend, it sounds like it’s providential for you that we had lunch together today!” I was not really serious, though, because I knew she wasn’t ever going to do this thing that my husband and I were doing, even though she had the exact same pain in her hand that I’d had for months (and which had gone away on day two of the fast, never to return). My newfound energy, slimmer physique, and lack of pain notwithstanding, I just knew that no one was ever going to try this crazy thing. It’s too drastic, too counter-cultural, too all-encompassing. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Turns out I was right… sort of. Carole told me later that when she left the restaurant that day, she thought, “Wow! She looks really great. And she feels really great. And <i>no</i> pain! Unbelievable! But there’s no way in hell I’m doing that.” </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Three days later, though, she called me and asked me for the names of some of the books I’d read about this way of eating. I took screenshots of the covers and texted them to her. And the rest, as they say, is history. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Carole’s story is at least as unbelievable as mine, and takes us solidly from “I’m not really sure I believe you” to “This absolutely cannot be true.” But she gave me permission to share her story, too, so here goes.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">One of the books I had mentioned to her was the old <i>Fasting and Eating for Health</i> that I had read years ago when Rachel had first eliminated the symptoms of her rheumatoid arthritis. I had pulled it back out and read it again, in preparation for our starting this new eating plan with a week-long water fast. Carole went to the library to try and get any of the books I had recommended, and—not surprisingly!—she didn’t find any of them. She did, however, find another book by that same author, Joel Fuhrman, entitled <i>The End of Diabetes</i>. Since Carole’s husband is diabetic—and since there were no other of the books I said I’d read —she checked it out and began reading it. She confessed later that her first thought as she began reading this book was, “This is the kookiest thing I’ve ever read, and this guy has to be a quack.” (I’ve never read that particular book, but his other book—and many others that I have read—absolutely seem impossible to believe initially. If they’re telling the truth, you think, it’s really compelling stuff. But you can’t imagine that if this is true, everyone in the medical community doesn’t know about it and isn’t advocating it... so you read on in this strange blend of curiosity, disbelief, elation, and fury. I can relate to her initial reaction!)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">She quickly finished the book, then asked her law professor husband to read it and tell her if it was kooky. He did so, and agreed that yes, it’s kooky. “But why don’t we try it? So we eat mostly vegetables for three months! That’s no big deal.” They had steak for dinner that night and then began the new way of eating recommended in that book the next morning—and it was even more restrictive than our new way of eating because, as a diabetic, Doug can only have limited quantities of grains, even healthy whole grains.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I didn’t know that any of this was going on at the time, however, and only heard this story several weeks into their journey. I share it here, with her permission, only to broaden the list of situations and ailments that are helped by this lifestyle shift. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">They ate steak that night—the “last hurrah” of meat for what they figured would be a 12-week trial to “see how it goes.” And now... brace yourself! Because here’s where it gets even more unbelievable. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Read Part 3, <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part_15.html?m=1" target="_blank">The Basic Eating Plan</a>. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">NOTE: The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not a medical professional or healthcare provider, and I have no professional medical, nutritional, or dietary credentials. You yourself are responsible for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon any information or advice appearing on this site. </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Start the story at the beginning with <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a>.</span></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-43540266430148487332021-11-13T14:33:00.036-05:002022-11-13T18:29:38.022-05:00The Change That Changes Everything (Part 1)<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">This morning I hiked 8 miles. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Last month I took a family trip to Vermont... riding in a car… for 14 hours over the course of two days… </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Neither of these things is really all that remarkable, unless you consider the fact that, a few short months ago, I would never have been able to do either of them. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Every morning of my life, for at least the past decade, I had awakened with varying levels of chronic, unexplained pain… climbed slowly out of bed onto painful ankles and feet… hobbled gingerly across the room, unable to fully straighten up until I’d been moving for at least 5–10 minutes. My knees hurt. My lower back hurt. My hips hurt. My wrists and elbows and shoulders hurt, and my fingers felt stiff and swollen and painful. A terrible band of aching "nervy" pain across my mid back would intensify over the course of the day—every day—until I would hit some point in the late afternoon and have to soak in a bathtub… or have a back rub… or take some drugs… just to make it to the end of the day. I regularly had migraine headaches, which would land me flat on my back in excruciating pain, hiding away in darkness and silence until things passed over the ensuing hours or days. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I tried everything I knew how to—and I ended up having spent tens of thousands of dollars on every idea and possible solution that both conventional allopathic and alternative medicine supposedly had to offer. (I'm not exaggerating here!) I’ve seen MDs, PAs, DOs, orthopedists, chiropractors, naturopathic doctors, physiatrists, physical therapists, massage therapists, myofascial release therapists. I had complete allergy testing, hormone profiles, bloodwork, X-rays, MRIs, CTs. I tried ice packs, heating pads, water jet therapy, acupressure, trigger point injections, dry needling, prolotherapy, essential oils, CBD products, a TENS unit, an inversion table, analgesic patches, micro-current therapy, steroids, cortisone shots, NSAIDs, opioids, neurological drugs like gabapentin, and experimental drugs like LDN that had to be filled at special compounding pharmacies.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I suppose the point of sharing this litany of symptomatology and attempted treatments is to make it clear that, by the end, I was in terrible pain… and that I had spent considerable time, money, and effort—over many years—to get to the bottom of it and to attempt to find relief. But my pain only increased, slowly but surely, as the years went by. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Several years ago, when my pain was constant but still relatively mild, I heard about a childhood friend of mine, younger than I, who had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in her 30s. Her illness had progressed to the point that she was walking with crutches, at times wheelchair-bound, unable to walk unassisted or go up and down stairs. Her mother is a dear friend of mine, and she had shared about how her daughter had tried a new dietary protocol... having slowly and gradually found relief over many months. She was now, a year and a half later, fully mobile and functional, with no pain at all. I rejoiced with her mother as she shared this story of healing, and I asked for the name of the book she had used to guide her in her new eating protocol. I was told there were several, but to start with <i>Fasting and Eating for Health</i> by Joel Fuhrman, MD. I promptly ordered the book online and read it immediately. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“Well, this can’t be right,” I remember thinking as I read it, realizing—however many pages in—that he was advocating a meat-free diet. I had traveled through many paradigm shifts in my understanding of "healthy eating" over the years, and I had eventually landed on a philosophy that advocated a diet of mostly home-cooked foods that included home-baked whole grain breads and sourdough, raw milk obtained through a cow-share program with a local dairy farmer, grass-fed beef and free-range chicken and other high-quality meat products, free-range eggs from local chickens, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, homemade cultured products like kefir and kombucha and yoghurt and sauerkraut. We were healthy eaters, I thought, and certainly not consuming the "standard American diet" (SAD). I finished the book, put it away on a shelf (literally and figuratively), and continued about my life. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fast forward several years, and my pain was now debilitating. I was desperate for answers, and I was out of ideas where to turn. The pain was present all over my body, in all my joints, and I was pretty much convinced that I must have rheumatoid arthritis. I made an appointment with the </span>most-recommended <span>rheumatologist </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> in my town and had a full blood work-up. After a couple of weeks, the results came back. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“Do you want the good news first or the bad news first?” she asked me. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“I don’t know,” I remember answering, bracing myself for the worst. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“You do not have rheumatoid arthritis. (Pause.) That’s the good news <i>and</i> the bad news. You do not have any of the autoimmune disorders that usually lead to this kind of pain… no RA, no lupus, nothing of the sort. Your bloodwork is normal.” </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I remember feeling tears spring immediately to my eyes, spilling over onto my cheeks then trickling down to my chin and dropping off onto my chest. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And they were not tears of relief, either… though of course I was thrilled not to have rheumatoid arthritis! But at least it would have been an answer. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">A </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">diagnosis</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">—that ever-elusive thing that all folks in unexplained chronic pain seek—would at least have a new protocol and regimen attached to it, which might offer some hope of doing something… anything… to try to fix the terrible pain. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">But alas, no. I was being sent to a physiatrist… a pain management doctor… the place where they send you when there’s nowhere else to send you… when they’ve stopped trying to diagnose you because they’ve given up hope that they’re going to find anything fixable and are just trying to help you manage the discomfort by a variety of means, all of which I’d already tried. I was devastated. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I came home. Cried. Prayed. Talked to my husband. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Then I went to see the physiatrist. Again. (I’d first seen her almost twenty years ago.) She put me on drugs, which I took… and sent me to physical therapy, which I did… and did injections, which I suffered through… and told me to go on a gluten-free and dairy-free dietary trial for 6–8 weeks, which I balked at. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />“No,” I informed her, “my daughter’s wedding is three months away, and I am going to eat the food at her reception.” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">She told me to start the restricted eating that very day—and to complete the trial before the wedding—and so I did. I went gluten- and dairy-free for eight weeks in early 2020, just at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic during which my daughter had a modified outdoor beach wedding with a few family and friends. We had to shift gears and change plans and modify everything several times, and it was a terribly stressful and challenging time. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We all have our memories of those early pandemic days, full of uncertainty and fear and sacrifice… the loss of dreams (and modifications of plans) that accompanied those difficult times. Did the gluten-free, dairy-free trial during that time take away my physical pain? No, it did not. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />Did it help at all? I feel certain it must have—at least a little—since I was navigating those dark days of <<i>plan, grieve, re-plan, grieve, shift gears, plan again</i>> with some measure of success and functionality, handling the added stress and workload better than I would normally have handled the "regular" days of my usual life. And the massage table in my bedroom had been put away. This symbol of my pain—the near-daily necessity of a back rub just to be able to get to sleep without drugs—had been put away during the wedding days because it was taking up a lot of room and wasn’t needed every day anymore. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />The wedding came and went. The GF/DF eating came and went. I ate the food at the reception. I ate the food at the family reunion beach week that followed. Then I returned home to my usual diet and my usual life. Slowly, ever so slowly, the pain began to increase again. The massage table came back out. The back rubs and bathtub soaks and CBD massages all returned, just to get me through the painful days. I fidgeted around the idea of going GF/DF again, but I <i>really</i> didn’t want to do it. It was terribly inconvenient and unsatisfying, and a real nuisance to pull it off. And it hadn’t actually alleviated my pain. It had helped a little, maybe… but was the little bit of relief worth the whole lotta pain-in-the-butt of eating gluten- and dairy-free? I wasn’t so sure. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Then I remembered my friend with </span><span>rheumatoid arthritis, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rachel. I called her mom back—several years later now—and asked her about the eating regimen she herself was on… about exactly how she had applied the dietary protocols she had voluntarily taken on several years earlier in solidarity with her daughter, when her daughter had begun the eating plan that forms the basis for my new way of eating. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />I didn’t know at the time that it was really a conglomeration of the practices of several doctors and practitioners, each with a slightly different twist on what is fundamentally the same recommendation—an eating plan known as a whole food, plant-based diet. And so began my eating adventure... and the beginning, for me, of the change that changed everything.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Read Part 2, <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-change-that-changes-everything-part_14.html?m=1" target="_blank">A Reluctant Herald</a>. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">NOTE: The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not a medical professional or healthcare provider, and I have no professional medical, nutritional, or dietary credentials. You yourself are responsible for any risks or issues associated with using or acting upon any information or advice appearing on this site. </span></p></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-22246578490213676012020-07-22T13:31:00.003-04:002021-11-15T14:01:19.768-05:00Even on This Train Track<div><br /></div>How do I hear a whisper in the midst of all this noise?<div>Staying home, and still they find me.</div><div>Stuck inside, and yet they penetrate the quarantine walls.</div><div>No invitation necessary.</div><div>No welcome needed.</div><div>Not even an open door</div><div>(Or a tightly closed one)</div><div>They're just here.</div><div><br /></div><div>In my mind.</div><div>On my screen.</div><div>In my heart.</div><div>In these walls.</div><div><br /></div><div>Where is the still, small voice?</div><div><br /></div><div>I awaken from fleeting sleep and</div><div>(Blessed, elusive sleep)</div><div>stumble into the bathroom.</div><div>In a daze</div><div>And a haze.</div><div>For just one blessed second</div><div>Before the train rounds the corner and</div><div>Blows its awful whistle</div><div>Of reminder.</div><div>For one brief, transient moment</div><div>I walk in a glorious sea of forgetfulness</div><div>Before that relentless train</div><div>Smacks into my pummeled soul once again</div><div><br /></div><div>I look across the hallway</div><div>And I see you there</div><div>Seated</div><div>Battling a difficult math problem</div><div>Or maybe just trying to muster the will</div><div>To do an easy one</div><div>Their way.</div><div><br /></div><div>No matter.</div><div>Just as it comes into focus</div><div>The image is gone.</div><div>Like you.</div><div>And I can't get you back.</div><div><br /></div><div>How can you be gone?</div><div>Your beautiful self</div><div>Your beautiful smile</div><div>Your gifted eye</div><div>Your clever retort</div><div>Your very being</div><div>Vanished and irrecoverable</div><div><br /></div><div>I feel the tears spring to my eyes</div><div>And quickly fill them to overflowing</div><div>Again.</div><div>Tears trickling down familiar lines</div><div>I am weeping again.</div><div>Again.</div><div><br /></div><div>I fight the urge to bury this pain</div><div>Deep</div><div>Where it can't hurt me</div><div>(Yeah, right)</div><div>Where it can't find me</div><div>(Hello again)</div><div>The grinning, terrifying voice</div><div>Of the Accuser</div><div>Haunts me</div><div><br /></div><div>I will not hide.</div><div>You prepare a table right before me</div><div>In the presence of my Enemy.</div><div><br /></div><div>This grief</div><div>This blame</div><div>This guilt</div><div>This threatened hopelessness</div><div><br /></div><div>It is here again.</div><div>Again.</div><div><br /></div><div>I turn to face it</div><div>Embrace it</div><div>Bring it to Your loving hand</div><div><br /></div><div>I will fear no evil</div><div>No Evil</div><div>Even in this Valley</div><div>Of the Shadow</div><div>Of Death</div><div><br /></div><div>I will walk through</div><div>("The only way out is through")</div><div>And find peace</div><div><br /></div><div>Goodbye, dear Joshua.</div><div>Snuggle in.</div><div>Your Father is glad to have you Home</div><div><br /></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-73994535921023376732020-07-20T12:09:00.010-04:002020-09-10T17:09:46.924-04:00The Shattering of That Beautiful Glass<div><br /></div>I can't find any words.<div><br /><div>Usually the poems write themselves</div><div>In the wake of the pain</div><div>Or the joy</div><div>Or the confusion</div><div>Or the wonder</div><div><br /></div><div>And the mist</div><div>And the tears</div><div>And the laughter</div><div>And the longing</div></div><div>Swirl and pour onto the page like, like</div><div><br /></div><div>Like what?</div><div><br /></div><div>Like that damn river you posted on your Instagram</div><div>The page we didn't even know about</div><div>Until you were gone.</div><div><br /></div><div>You are gone.</div><div><br /></div><div>I can't believe you are gone.</div><div><br /></div><div>For a moment I'm convinced </div><div>I can see it now.</div><div>Should have seen it.</div><div>Should have known.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's hazy</div><div>But clear</div><div><br /></div><div>Clear as mud.</div><div>Maybe made up.</div><div>Maybe the product of a grief-strained mind</div><div>And a broken heart</div><div>Awake for more hours than makes sense</div><div>Leaving me unable to make sense</div><div>Out of senseless things</div><div><br /></div><div>And this is senseless.</div><div>Infuriating.</div><div>Excruciating.</div><div>Heartbreaking.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unreal.</div><div><br /></div><div>I cannot make my brain believe it</div><div>Or my heart receive it</div><div>Or any part of me accept it as so.</div><div>This cannot be so.</div><div><br /></div><div>I try to ignore the little glimmers</div><div>On the Instagram page.</div><div>The one you hid from us.</div><div><br /></div><div>I close my tear-stained eyes.</div><div>I whisper to myself</div><div><br /></div><div>It's just the artistic kid</div><div>With the camera and the good eye</div><div>Capturing the beauty of a risky moment</div><div><br /></div><div>You stare down the gaze into swirling waters</div><div>You prance on the ledge of the narrow bridge</div><div><br /></div><div>"I want to go back" </div><div>and "Take me with you"</div><div>and "Don't say you were there for me</div><div>when I've been walking alone</div><div>my whole life"</div><div><br /></div><div>"Don't slip under the surface"</div><div><br /></div><div>You capture the shattering of that beautiful glassy ice</div><div>And I can't believe the sound of it.</div><div>It plays over and over in my mind.</div><div>The drop that destroys</div><div>Leaving us shattered</div><div><br /></div><div>"You're going to be alright, I promise"</div><div><br /></div><div>Only we're not.</div><div>We're not alright.</div><div><br /></div><div>Staring down the chasm of grief</div><div>I reach into my memories</div><div>For your sunny self</div><div>Full of love</div><div>And joy</div><div>And jokes</div><div><br /></div><div>Josh joshing</div><div><br /></div><div>I swallow hard</div><div>Past the lump in my throat</div><div>And choke down the tears that try to come again</div><div><br /></div><div>This.</div><div>Can.</div><div>Not.</div><div>Be.</div><div>True.</div><div><br /></div><div>But it is.</div><div>And I cannot wrap my brain around it.</div><div>Cannot make my heart conform</div><div>To this particular truth</div><div><br /></div><div>I know that you are finally held</div><div>In the arms of your loving Father</div><div>The true One</div><div><br /></div><div>The One who never left you</div><div>Or forsook you</div><div><br /></div><div>Even in the final moments</div><div>Of blinding pain</div><div>And poor judgement</div><div><br /></div><div>Those moments do not define you.</div><div>That one choice is not the totality of your life.</div><div>You are freed from the noose</div><div>Of a horrible choice</div><div>Into the arms of your Savior</div><div>Who held you all along</div><div>And holds you still</div><div>Now whole, and healed</div><div><br /></div><div>Forgive us for our part in your pain.</div><div>Forgive us for the selfish choices we made.</div><div>Forgive us for the ways we did not see.</div><div>Forgive us, Josh.</div><div><br /></div><div>Forgive us, Lord.</div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-52344010467866859702019-09-15T13:53:00.004-04:002021-11-15T14:07:51.294-05:00Quiet Miracles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUYcbBlI3Kn9rJrfg0NGS8FRc7jfPDTjAw6q0jINARkuIg7JqhFF0RSBiQqmG0dBMmS-RfmyK4W5U0ZqusazBj6tc7I3GLpst1qWVIwqP8gTLjcdfMuVbwADMd90U7I2JCuPlFH7HK_Q/s1600/5816E1B6-D242-4AB6-9A87-D4259E54076B.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUYcbBlI3Kn9rJrfg0NGS8FRc7jfPDTjAw6q0jINARkuIg7JqhFF0RSBiQqmG0dBMmS-RfmyK4W5U0ZqusazBj6tc7I3GLpst1qWVIwqP8gTLjcdfMuVbwADMd90U7I2JCuPlFH7HK_Q/s640/5816E1B6-D242-4AB6-9A87-D4259E54076B.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
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My near-daily walks with these little guys is one of the quiet (though not unrecognized!) miracles of my life right now. Four generations of us—some combination of iivo and me, my dad, EV, Ronald, and these little boys—traipsing around this neighborhood we’ve lived in for most of the last four decades. Paired with three dogs and a large double stroller, we’re quite the scene, I’m sure!</div>
Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-21101129239468738492019-09-08T22:17:00.000-04:002019-09-08T22:21:29.324-04:00Indignation at the Inevitable<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of the meaning<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of a word<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Over time<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Has me irritated<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flustered<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A little bit pissed, even<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When did voluptuous<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Betray me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And cease to mean sensuous?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Prone to sensual enjoyment?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Relating to<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Or characterized by<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sensual pleasure?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You betcha!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Full of delight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Or pleasure <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To the senses?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes sir, indeed!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why did big tits get to highjack<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My perfectly good word<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And render it backward?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Awkward?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Off?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They’ve tried to hijack everything<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The bodacious imposters<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And they’ve almost succeeded<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One too many men spoke of the voluptuous woman<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And one too many a person <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Who didn’t know that big ol’ word<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Assumed it referred to those big ol ‘things—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The charlatans<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And assumption<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Became connotation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Became presumption<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Became fact<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I can’t be voluptuous anymore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just like you can’t be gay<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Or lusty<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Perfectly good words<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gone askance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And askew<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the way to their new home<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No matter!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’ll be voluptuous<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And you be lusty<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And we’ll roll around in our holy lust<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Till the world tilts a little<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And the angels will sing</span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: cambria;">
<span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">© 2019 Laurie Sitterding</span></div>
<div style="font-family: cambria;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My entry for the September 2019 prompt—"Lust"—at <a href="http://www.poetsonline.org/" target="_blank">Poets Online</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Our September prompt is lust, in one or more of its forms. Consider all levels, from intense sexual desire to a strong longing, or even the obsolete meanings of pleasure, delight, wish, or craving. Surprise us."</span></div>
</div>
Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-43292903950578407992019-08-19T13:00:00.002-04:002019-08-19T17:19:40.370-04:00Just So<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
Nobody moves anything anymore.</div>
<div>
It all stays put.</div>
<div>
Just so.</div>
<div>
Exactly where I thought I wanted it</div>
<div>
Back when I didn't know better</div>
<div>
Back when little fingers touched everything</div>
<div>
Took everything</div>
<div>
Or it just went walking</div>
<div>
Somewhere</div>
<div>
Anywhere but where it goes</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We built these trains</div>
<div>
And laid the track</div>
<div>
Of this life</div>
<div>
One little piece at a time</div>
<div>
Little locomotives</div>
<div>
And steam engines</div>
<div>
To run away with my heart.</div>
<div>
Or maybe just over it.</div>
<div>
Leave it gasping, frantic</div>
<div>
For just one screw</div>
<div>
Out of place.</div>
<div>
Something.</div>
<div>
Anything</div>
<div>
To step on.</div>
<div>
Anyone</div>
<div>
Underfoot</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If these floors could have told me, they would have</div>
<div>
If these walls could have warned me, I'd have known</div>
<div>
That every little block</div>
<div>
And shoe</div>
<div>
And piece of everything</div>
<div>
Would one day stay put.</div>
<div>
Just so.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We built these engines that ride off the rails</div>
<div>
And carry a piece of my soul</div>
<div>
On the way to get a cheeseburger</div>
<div>
In a new town</div>
<div>
With a new best lady</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I found my tweezers just the other day.</div>
<div>
How I wish to God they were still missing</div>
<div>
Instead of you<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© 2019 Laurie Sitterding</span></div>
</div>
Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-66968631235804785652018-08-12T00:50:00.000-04:002018-09-14T18:12:14.161-04:00Words of Expectant Hope<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgailuoUMSz6k1whlhnXF6es5COk-auE8EfcvBFvoXPouyfT68MCrcVaxj0UseRNCjw3hkRP2qh3uFAU1kGTIbgWxzVRGlIj_MQk1TnGM_r_LN490_gHSTFXz1NMs5I66PxnwlNWZ4_Cj0/s1600/IMG_3225.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgailuoUMSz6k1whlhnXF6es5COk-auE8EfcvBFvoXPouyfT68MCrcVaxj0UseRNCjw3hkRP2qh3uFAU1kGTIbgWxzVRGlIj_MQk1TnGM_r_LN490_gHSTFXz1NMs5I66PxnwlNWZ4_Cj0/s640/IMG_3225.JPG" width="640" /></a>Almost 25 years ago, a couple knocked on our door—and the doors of our hearts—with a box of warm Kristy Kreme doughnuts and an announcement that we were going to be fast friends. Three days ago, I held this dear friend’s hand for the last time. I wasn't ready to say goodbye.<br />
<br />
Our friendship over the years was complicated and complex... deep, and fierce, and fragile at times. We were like family. We loved, and served, and forgave each other, through much of life’s struggle and fear and joy and pain. At times, we hurt each other deeply. There was judgment, and misunderstanding, and betrayal, and anger. But there was also faithfulness, and commitment, and a steadfast clinging to the pursuit of unity in Christ. We grew up together. We matured together. We knew each other through every iteration of pride and judgment and arrogance, and yet we somehow made a way to find the best in each other and presume a heart of good will from each other. We served one another, at times selflessly and without thanks, and in the end we found that none was needed... not really.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRrEtKkEU8LMS-Y9aYzPCcz5OIpDjz6-5tjOIiGIMxrStjslwzS16022k2yxxY8K3bZEwQnRa9c6jqadJPJtF3qCXmeIh_Td833j2q47efg4fkYfM-QL1nO_IzSPk0Qb-S-Y_vzkIn1PQ/s1600/IMG_3226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRrEtKkEU8LMS-Y9aYzPCcz5OIpDjz6-5tjOIiGIMxrStjslwzS16022k2yxxY8K3bZEwQnRa9c6jqadJPJtF3qCXmeIh_Td833j2q47efg4fkYfM-QL1nO_IzSPk0Qb-S-Y_vzkIn1PQ/s320/IMG_3226.JPG" width="320" /></a>Since that day many years ago when my friend shared with us that she may have found a lump in her breast, I have prayed for her body, and her family, and her spirit. When she needed to turn the chairs inward and fight this battle without me for a time, I prayed. And trusted. And served. And waited. Restoration and reconciliation—though incomplete this side of heaven—are beautiful to behold, and even more beautiful to live.<br />
<br />
This valiant warrior was never more lovely to me than the day I took the clippers to her beautiful raven hair, watching it fall to the ground in waves, like my tears. She is the bravest woman I have ever known, battling this scourge that sought to defeat her body for so many long, painful, wearying years.<br />
<br />
I have been preparing my heart for some time that she might be called to leave us some day way too early, even as I desperately hoped that our faithful God—whom I knew could—would choose to heal her. She knew it, too, and hoped it to the bitter end, even as she gave us all the strength to trust along with her that He does all things well.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8XdRfnkzphZHRS_imVjj4ldUx445afytO7KAT7ZbWlNpZCoIXlR9jJMdz090plqCgOV8_mIyHGc-o8wYETxpmaEY7oTDtm6psICDqWWrUaykKwo8xJsJXSuDElISDaf6u7T1UKpBUxo0/s1600/IMG_3402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8XdRfnkzphZHRS_imVjj4ldUx445afytO7KAT7ZbWlNpZCoIXlR9jJMdz090plqCgOV8_mIyHGc-o8wYETxpmaEY7oTDtm6psICDqWWrUaykKwo8xJsJXSuDElISDaf6u7T1UKpBUxo0/s640/IMG_3402.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Even on the day that He called her home to be with Him—her body struggling to breathe and her mind no longer able to grasp our presence with her—she called upon the name of her faithful God to help her. I want faith like that, like my dear friend Darla’s... faith that is so deeply woven into my very being that it clings to my soul and spirit, even as conscious thought and communication have failed... and that erupts from my lips in words of dependence and expectant hope and trust, when all other words have been said. "Help me. God, help me." <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ugBrFBoeyh7LlpbIIQBXlU4-ajmGMuPfdGKR6UsdXBVGiT7y2nSRerr_w9duDbMkXk6frcGfbc-rFfg_1bnu5-mHIBE0qU157d8XeWYh2fcTHhf9GRnulFJxoLifgMfegZZg0By-4rA/s1600/IMG_3223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ugBrFBoeyh7LlpbIIQBXlU4-ajmGMuPfdGKR6UsdXBVGiT7y2nSRerr_w9duDbMkXk6frcGfbc-rFfg_1bnu5-mHIBE0qU157d8XeWYh2fcTHhf9GRnulFJxoLifgMfegZZg0By-4rA/s320/IMG_3223.JPG" width="240" /></a>My dear friend, I am so grateful that I got to spend those several hours with you just before He called you home. It was a blessing—to me—to speak to you, even though I wasn't necessarily sure that you could hear me or know what I was saying. I do believe our human spirits perceive, in some sort of awareness and communion and fellowship... and that our heavenly spirits know and understand things that our conscious minds can no longer grasp. I'm so glad I got to tell you one last time what a good wife you were, what a good mom. To hold your hand and touch your arm and stroke your beautiful hair. To thank you for your faithful friendship. To assure you that we would take care of Ken and the kids. To tell you that it was safe for you to go. That you had fought such a brave, good fight... that you were almost home. To quote to you the 23rd Psalm... which would have seemed trite had the words not felt so perfectly right and true. Those are the words He gave me, so those are the words I gave you. The Lord is my Shepherd. Green pastures. Still waters. The valley of the shadow of death. I will not fear. Thou art with me. Guides my path. A table before me. Goodness and lovingkindness. I will dwell in the house of the Lord. Forever and ever.<br />
<br />
It was a privilege and an honor to share those sacred moments alone with you, and then to witness your sweet Kathryn and your precious Ken as they reached out to hold your hand or touch your arm in your restlessness—"I'm here, my sweetheart. What do you need, my love? I'm right here"—and to see you settle down, comforted and quieted.<br />
<br />
"This is part of the deal," Ken had told me. "This is what we sign up for, on our wedding day. 'Till death do us part.' It's hidden there, in plain sight, right in our wedding vows." I witnessed the most sacred of things in that room that day... the palpable love of a man for his wife—flawed and human, yes, but sacred and powerful and astonishing... wild, and fierce, and rearing its head to be sure it was known and perceived until the very last breath.<br />
<br />
Well done, good and faithful one. So very well done!<br />
<br />
I am so glad that you are now in heaven, dear Darla, where there is no pain or sorrow or cancer. I wish I could have loved you better. I wasn't ready to be finished learning to love you well. I miss you. The world is less beautiful without you in it. Your beautiful voice is missing as I worship. But I know that you are now “absent from the body and at home with the Lord,” and I can only imagine the glories in which you now live. And from which you now sing.<br />
<br />
I look forward to our reunion in heaven, where there are no tears or pain or ability to misunderstand or hurt one another ever again. So go ride your horse in the horse corner of heaven, my sweet friend. I'll see you soon...</div>
Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-90714808358311878152017-02-09T14:14:00.000-05:002018-01-17T17:09:59.359-05:00Chopin Doesn't Live Here Anymore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am standing in my kitchen<br />
Like a thousand other mornings<br />
Of a lifetime of mornings<br />
In silence.<br />
Deafening silence.<br />
<br />
Every morning of my life<br />
Every year of my life<br />
For decades of my life<br />
Was a soundtrack<br />
<br />
Brahms and Bach<br />
And Bela Bartok.<br />
And Ludwig.<br />
<br />
Schubert and Schumann<br />
And Shostakovich.<br />
And Wolfgang<br />
Amadeus.<br />
<br />
They played for me.<br />
Butchering and mastering.<br />
Neither mattered.<br />
Both were grand.<br />
And all was beauty.<br />
<br />
Every forgotten sharp<br />
And shaved note<br />
And curse under the breath of frustration<br />
And tears<br />
Were background noise I forgot to take in.<br />
Hours a day<br />
Of an ordinary, extraordinary soundtrack.<br />
And I missed it.<br />
<br />
And I miss it.<br />
<br />
The music.<br />
Doesn't.<br />
Play.<br />
Anymore.<br />
<br />
Louder than it ever was<br />
Is the silence<br />
And the longing<br />
And the ache<br />
In the wake.<br />
<br />
Chopin doesn't live here anymore.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© 2017 Laurie Sitterding</span><br />
----------------------------------------------<br />
My entry for the February 2017 prompt—Music and Memory—at <a href="http://www.poetsonline.org/" target="_blank">Poets Online</a>.</div>
Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-37142446757756295132016-12-14T14:51:00.001-05:002021-11-15T14:17:20.591-05:00Isn't that the way they say it goes?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Okay, so I haven't written here in a long time. I didn't make it past August in the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4163952450459743175#editor/target=post;postID=8985171634112390878;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=23;src=postname" target="_blank">12-Months of 2015 Blog Challenge</a>. We <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4163952450459743175#editor/target=post;postID=568002182039909077;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=29;src=postname" target="_blank">started eating cookies again</a> sometime in the middle of the year. And <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4163952450459743175#editor/target=post;postID=6820331529514131712;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=28;src=link" target="_blank">the daily journal writing</a> is only semi-daily, at best. I didn't even try to do a 2016 Blog Challenge.<br />
<br />
Sigh. Isn't that how it almost always goes? The resolve in the resolutions is only so resolute, especially when the lure of the flesh rears its ugly head. And so there are no posts these days. But not because I don't think big thoughts. Just because I don't have the stamina to write them down just now.</div>
Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-69257560912747661522016-11-18T09:08:00.000-05:002017-11-05T07:26:10.616-05:00The Plural Possessive Refresher We All Need, Even Though No One Wants It<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">...And Just in Time for Christmas Cards!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
I bring you the following Public Service Announcement, from your friendly grammar-girl editing professional. This is just in time for Christmas cards, in case you want to have them grammatically correct.<br />
<br />
(If you know what's correct, and you choose to knowingly do it wrong because "you don't care if it's wrong because you think it looks better that way"—you know who you are!—then this post is not for you. Carry on.)<br />
<br />
However, if you really do want to have it right, but grammar was never your big thing, here you go. (I really am a Grammar Geek. I have always loved it. Weird, I know, but true!)<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
See below for all the helpful grammar rules. With examples. And maybe even your last name—or one similar to it—so you can get it right if you want to. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And this is all you're going to get. Because, after all, this:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAz1AfZtZo4n43KrwZN7wHMqafBTlZwPV_-exBrwXqfRmu3tbOQudGVv6NxAKpgD9OTYZHcjIBBcxR3PLGa3_HaNd23MIBF9OLroSzXChOm2dcf24OkqDgGJRvq-02MU6QTqsvfvRMbgg/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAz1AfZtZo4n43KrwZN7wHMqafBTlZwPV_-exBrwXqfRmu3tbOQudGVv6NxAKpgD9OTYZHcjIBBcxR3PLGa3_HaNd23MIBF9OLroSzXChOm2dcf24OkqDgGJRvq-02MU6QTqsvfvRMbgg/s640/images.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Plurals and Possessives of Names</b><br />
If you have a straightforward name that doesn't end in any problematic letters, things are pretty straightforward:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
* Lucy Clark</div>
<div>
* Lucy Clark's book</div>
<div>
* Lucy's book</div>
<div>
* the Clark family</div>
<div>
* eat with the Clarks</div>
<div>
* eat at the Clarks' home (because it belongs to all of them)</div>
<div>
* <i>Love, the Clarks</i> (not <i>Love, <strike>the Clark's</strike></i>)<br />
<br />
The main "rule" to remember is that you never, never, never form a plural with an apostrophe. Just don't. (Yes, those of you "in-the-know" grammar types realize that this statement is not technically 100% true, because you <i>do</i> make the plural of a single letter using an apostrophe, but that is rare, so for now, just remember that all ordinary plurals—including your family names—do not use an apostrophe. Ever.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you happen to have one of those names that ends in a letter or letter combination that requires creating an interesting plural before adding possession, you have some special things to learn regarding your name.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
PLEASE NOTE: Microsoft Word does not get this right. It can't read your mind, and it doesn't know how many people you mean. If you have auto-correct on, it will often change your word to something wrong even if you typed it right. It does not necessarily know more than you do. It is not always right! Just be careful and check your "think-it-knows-better-than-you" auto-correct function—don't just accept it as right because Microsoft Word said so!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
These are the correct forms for your "exceptional" name:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
* Chris Sanchez</div>
<div>
* Chris Sanchez's book</div>
<div>
* Chris's book (NOT <strike>Chris'</strike> book)</div>
<div>
* the Sanchez family</div>
<div>
* eat with the Sanchezes</div>
<div>
* eat at the Sanchezes' home (NOT <strike>the Sanchez's</strike> home)</div>
<div>
* eat at the Sanchez home (my personal preference with these kinds of names and spellings, since it is seemingly less strange)</div>
<div>
* <i>Love, the Sanchezes</i> (NOT <i>Love, <strike>the Sanchez's</strike></i>) or <i>Love, the Sanchez family </i>(less awkward)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This is true for other names, as well:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Esther Cavendish</div>
<div>
Esther Cavendish's book</div>
<div>
Esther's book</div>
<div>
the Cavendish family</div>
<div>
eat with the Cavendishes</div>
<div>
eat at the Cavendishes' home (NOT <strike>the Cavendish's</strike> home)</div>
<div>
eat at the Cavendish home</div>
<div>
<i>Love, the Cavendishes</i> (NOT <i>Love, <strike>the Cavendish's</strike></i>)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Patsy Fahs</div>
<div>
Patsy Fahs's book (NOT <strike>Patsy Fahs'</strike> book)</div>
<div>
Patsy's book</div>
<div>
the Fahs family</div>
<div>
eat with the Fahses</div>
<div>
eat at the Fahses' home (NOT <strike>the Fahs's</strike> home)</div>
<div>
eat at the Fahs home </div>
<div>
<i>Love, the Fahses</i> (NOT <i>Love, <strike>the Fahs'</strike></i> or <i>Love, <strike>the Fahs's</strike></i>)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Rita Cox</div>
<div>
Rita Cox's book</div>
<div>
Rita's book</div>
<div>
the Cox family</div>
<div>
eat with the Coxes</div>
<div>
eat at the Coxes' home (NOT <strike>the Cox's</strike> home)</div>
<div>
eat at the Cox home</div>
<div>
<i>Love, the Coxes</i> (NOT <i>Love, <strike>the Cox's</strike></i>)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Mike Church</div>
<div>
Mike Church's book</div>
<div>
Mike's book</div>
<div>
the Church family</div>
<div>
eat with the Churches</div>
<div>
eat at the Churches' home (NOT <strike>the Church's</strike> home)</div>
<div>
eat at the Church home</div>
<div>
<i>Love, the Churches</i> (NOT <i>Love, <strike>the Church's</strike></i>)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
David Monteaux</div>
<div>
David Monteaux's book</div>
<div>
David's book</div>
<div>
the Monteaux family</div>
<div>
eat with the Monteauxs </div>
<div>
eat at the Monteauxs' home (NOT <strike>the Monteaux's</strike> home)</div>
<div>
eat at the Monteaux home</div>
<div>
(Note that this is "wrong" in French, because the name is Monteau, and Monteaux is the correct plural. But often, during Americanization, French family names keep the -eaux form, thereby "messing up" the plurals and plural possessives forever!)</div>
<div>
<i>Love, the Monteauxs</i> (NOT <i>Love, <strike>the Monteaux's</strike></i>)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Mike Teixeira</div>
<div>
Mike Teixeira's book</div>
<div>
Mike's book</div>
<div>
the Teixeira family</div>
<div>
eat with the Teixeiras (NOT <strike>the Teixeira's</strike>)</div>
<div>
eat at the Teixeiras' home</div>
<div>
eat at the Teixeira home</div>
<div>
<i>Love, the Teixeiras</i> (NOT <i>Love, <strike>the Teixeira's</strike></i>)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Rose Williams</div>
<div>
Rose Williams's book (NOT <strike>Rose Williams'</strike> book)</div>
<div>
Rose's book</div>
<div>
the Williams family</div>
<div>
eat with the Williamses (NOT <strike>the Williams's</strike>)</div>
<div>
eat at the Williamses' home (NOT <strike>the William's home</strike> or <strike>the Williams's home</strike>)</div>
<div>
eat at the Williams home</div>
<div>
<i>Love, the Williamses</i> (NOT <i>Love, <strike>the Williams's</strike></i>)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Heather Jones</div>
<div>
Heather Jones's book (NOT <strike>Heather Jones'</strike> book)</div>
<div>
Heather's book</div>
<div>
the Jones family</div>
<div>
eat with the Joneses (NOT <strike>the Jones's</strike>)</div>
<div>
eat at the Joneses' home (NOT <strike>the Jones's</strike>)</div>
<div>
eat at the Jones home</div>
<div>
<i>Love, the Joneses</i> (NOT <i>Love, <strike>the Jones's</strike></i>)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
EXCEPTION: Ancient Classical names have a special exception to these rules. So, though it is correctly written <i>Davis's message</i>, it would be <i>Moses' message</i>, <i>Jesus' sermon</i>, or <i>Socrates' teachings</i>. Maybe someday Davis will be ancient and famous enough for us to refer to <i><strike>Davis' message</strike></i>, but for now, it's just wrong.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, there you have it. Do with it what you will...</div>
<div>
<br />
And also, to balance things out, here's a great article: "<a href="http://blog.writeathome.com/index.php/2016/11/how-to-quit-being-a-grammar-snob/" target="_blank">How to Quit Being a Grammar Snob</a>." I'm not quite there yet, but I'm 100% better because of the author, my friend Brian Wasko, and his influence over the past several years. Thank you, Brian. (And yes, I'm still working on it. Especially this time of year!)</div>
</div>
Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-76656596076109443112015-12-26T14:19:00.000-05:002021-11-15T14:19:50.120-05:00Gentle Advice for Those Going On Mission Trips<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
This is a guest post by my friend Katie Adams...wise words from a wise woman with much experience working with orphans and mission teams!<br />
<br />
</span><div class="_5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="color: #141823; line-height: 1.38; overflow: hidden;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">With mission trip season fast approaching can I offer some gentle advice from this adoptive mom of a child raised in an orphanage (and having worked in Nicaragua for 13 years)?:</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Focus on the staff, not the kids. These caretakers work 24-hour days caring for the children you are visiting. They’re the ones changing diapers, washing hands, disciplining, loving, and teaching these children you’ll visit for a few short days. THEY need to know you care about them and support them more than the kids. Ask them their names, what they do – ask about their families and why these choose to work for typically far below-average wages – ask if you can help them and how you can pray for them. Care for them first.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Talk, don’t touch. You are probably one of several visiting teams. Constant physical affection from strangers is confusing, often unwanted, and can have long-lasting impacts on being able to appropriately bond with others. It may be cute that some kids run up when you arrive and want to hug, but it’s a sign of inappropriate attachment. These kids need to learn to bond well so instead of hugging, holding hands, and having them sit on your laps (please NO!) ask them questions – get them to spend time in a group playing a structured game. Basically ask yourself: “How would I treat children if I walked into an average American public school kindergarten room?” Do that instead.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Don’t call them “your” kids. They’re not. Hopefully someday they will be reunited with safe, loving family members or adopted. Unless you are one or the other you are visiting. Pray for their families, their potential future families and their current orphanage family…and be grateful for the opportunity to visit. </span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Don’t make promises – just pray. These kids have had more promises made to them by visiting teams than you can imagine. Your wishes may be very well-intentioned but these kids take promises to heart far more than you can imagine and constant disappointment adds to their already fragile understanding of trust. The best thing you can do for these children is to encourage their caretakers, financially support their orphanage, and pray. </span></i></div>
<div style="display: inline; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<i>I am incredibly grateful for the staff at <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=291570680902980" href="https://www.facebook.com/HogarPuentedeAmistad" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Hogar Puente de Amistad</a>orphanage who raised my daughter for nearly 6 years. And yet every summer I see teams walk by all of these incredible orphanage staff workers who never draw attention to themselves and miss out on their stories.This mission trip season I would LOVE to see photos of visiting teams with orphanage workers even more than the kids they care for. Get to know an orphanage staff worker this summer – they truly are heroes wearing invisible capes! <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/imetahero?source=feed_text&story_id=10153319773264534" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl" style="color: #627aad; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">imetahero</span></a></i></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-23722176328275290572015-08-10T15:42:00.000-04:002015-12-26T07:01:10.391-05:00The Extraordinary Ordinary<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This kind of beauty takes my breath away. I can't believe it's just growing in my front yard!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1ZC0lUhc1tSC4VqpOz8q-T7GuMp7Jwqb3LnA8EZuR2BtZrIfTw0Kq0dyRvH5nq5J0yKZ4xbc7R2B0r0Db71S_hyh-1RhsI53qF-539malp9uARoqVjil_iQQ_wSs7lnmv2WXCmdYPTk/s1600/IMG_6635.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1ZC0lUhc1tSC4VqpOz8q-T7GuMp7Jwqb3LnA8EZuR2BtZrIfTw0Kq0dyRvH5nq5J0yKZ4xbc7R2B0r0Db71S_hyh-1RhsI53qF-539malp9uARoqVjil_iQQ_wSs7lnmv2WXCmdYPTk/s640/IMG_6635.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
The title of this blog post is from the title of the inspiring book I'm reading, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Y1QS75O?keywords=the%20extraordinary%20ordinary%20life%20of%20mark%20rodriguez&qid=1443639894&ref_=sr_1_1&s=digital-text&sr=1-1#customerReviews" target="_blank">The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of Mark Rodriguez</a></i>. From the preface by his mother, who put the book together from his journal writings: "Like Mark, we can have that same intimate and loving relationship with God. When we ask, He makes the ordinary extraordinary. May the words of Mark, a seventeen-year-old ordinary kid, help you to experience this extraordinary ordinary life with God."<br />
<br />
Mark's life was ended by a seemingly random act of violence when he was just 17 years old. The words he left behind in these journals have been an incredible gift, not only to his family but to all of us who knew him and thousands who didn't. I have grown in my relationship with God through the words of this extraordinary, ordinary young man.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">----------</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">*Entry 8, August<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> - </span><a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-12-months-of-2015-blog-challenge.html" style="color: #993322; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The 12 Months of 2015 Blog Challenge </a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The title is from the book mentioned above.</span></div>
Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-2439048473115075712015-07-31T07:34:00.000-04:002019-09-18T05:15:37.663-04:00Buy You a Dress So Pretty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My daughter OG has moved into her sister's old room. (EV has moved into a new room, in a new house, in a new life, in a new town, with a new name... but that's another post for another day!)<br />
<br />
One of the things OG is doing is to decorate the room in a Victorian theme, which includes a picture wall of old black-and-white framed photographs of family members. It is beautiful...both the room, and the photo wall!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2hiiz1D_KsVO-UYIzGFZyl7scDa5zhBdnDsIi-5qLCNKBZB3fCOxRdZc3d0miCDoshTO_457rbO4aZ5dicB9c6Bue5rY8b1innk2FLrWU3f3Uz9SGtU96TKQvusP8ydW7nqgtkfC1lU/s1600/IMG_1951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2hiiz1D_KsVO-UYIzGFZyl7scDa5zhBdnDsIi-5qLCNKBZB3fCOxRdZc3d0miCDoshTO_457rbO4aZ5dicB9c6Bue5rY8b1innk2FLrWU3f3Uz9SGtU96TKQvusP8ydW7nqgtkfC1lU/s640/IMG_1951.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
When my aunt<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12px;">—</span>my mother's sister and my daughter's great aunt<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12px;">—</span>mailed her the old black-and-white photos, she stuck in a couple of color snapshots from my childhood. Among them was this gem:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsydxliOyzRffGD1HQV5pVJFCIc7VRf5PdZoY8N-L8qoqgVMt3C5ZcTvVLT6qUb_rdCpeuPVZwaeDeNg6RA6IKUeBk0NO6GQEJFFv3bUWgj29vguJ62m-Jta4xCJsM1H6Ax7ks6Wrg08k/s1600/IMG_5967-1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsydxliOyzRffGD1HQV5pVJFCIc7VRf5PdZoY8N-L8qoqgVMt3C5ZcTvVLT6qUb_rdCpeuPVZwaeDeNg6RA6IKUeBk0NO6GQEJFFv3bUWgj29vguJ62m-Jta4xCJsM1H6Ax7ks6Wrg08k/s640/IMG_5967-1.PNG" width="360" /></a></div>
<br />
Good heavens, Mom! Buy me a new dress, already. Put that thing I'm wearing on my sister, and buy me a new one, so we might not both look like, well... Hmmm... I don't know what to call that...<br />
<br />
(Oh, and doesn't my cousin John look thrilled to be photographed next to his obnoxious little cousins visiting from out of state?!)<br />
<br />
This picture makes me cringe and smile, all at the same time. Kind of like most things in life I look back on with a fresh, new perspective from the future...<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">*Entry 7, July<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> - </span><a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-12-months-of-2015-blog-challenge.html" style="color: #993322; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The 12 Months of 2015 Blog Challenge </a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The title is a line from the song "Pouring Rain" by David Stewart.</span></div>
Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4163952450459743175.post-27758322457231258382015-06-06T17:00:00.000-04:002015-12-26T06:59:43.935-05:00The Last Day at the Beach<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>The Last Day at the Beach</i>. That's the title of this achingly beautiful song from William Ackerman. I can't listen to it without getting wistful. This year's <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2014/07/we-had-seasons-in-sun.html" target="_blank">family reunion beach week</a> has been the first year that we have had more high school graduates among our children than not... four to three! One of my daughters is married, and her husband joined us this year. (Welcome, Ronald!) One of my sister's daughters is engaged, and her fiancé joined us this year, too. (Nice to finally meet you, Crawford!)<br />
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There's been lots of fun and feasting... sunburn... beach volleyball... ukulele... feasting... rain... <i>Avengers </i>and <i>Jurassic Park </i>(must. get. ready. for. sequels!)... feasting... <i>Taboo... </i> Nanny's cakes (coconut, chocolate chip, rum, and poppy seed)... new pups ("Finley and Chewie, meet the cuzes!")... biking (and even a bicycle built for two!)... feasting... donuts from Duck Donuts on National Donut Day... skim boarding... freezing produce... "<i>Farkle!"...</i> boogie boarding... feasting... hot tubbing... coconut rum fruity drinks and Mike's hard lemonade... <i>The Dugger Interviews</i> (isn't the world talking about anything else?!)... feasting... shopping... reading... <i>Pictionary</i>... corn hole... rain... feasting... <i><a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2013/05/02/new-party-game-heads-up-featured-on-the-ellen-show/" target="_blank">Heads Up!</a></i> charades (thank you, Ellen!)...<br />
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The list of fun memories, far from complete, makes me smile... and I list it to keep me from crying. Every year, as the week comes to a close, I am amazed at how quickly it has flown, and how fleeting time is. Our children are growing, and we are growing old, and there's nothing we can do to slow the hands of time. Another fun week is coming to a close much too soon, and we ignore the approaching goodbyes that will inevitably prick our eyes come morning. Goodbye, Beach Week 2015. (Such fun you've been!)<br />
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Until we meet again next year...<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">*Entry 6b, June - <a href="http://parksideplace.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-12-months-of-2015-blog-challenge.html" style="color: #993322; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The 12 Months of 2015 Blog Challenge </a></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">The title is that of William Ackerman's song by the same name.</span></div>
Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01670597828278126498noreply@blogger.com0