In addition to the changes I realized I needed to make, as described in my post a couple weeks ago, I recently decided to cut down my meat consumption even more (previous to this I consumed meat only at dinner time pretty much every day except Monday- "Meatless Monday"). And I've also decided to include all animal products in my definition of "meat"; so that includes eggs and dairy. It have heard from several sources that animal protein is really not ideal for humans and has been linked with cancer and heart disease- regardless of cholesterol content; the form of protein itself promotes these diseases in humans! Here is a really short citation of studies related to animal protien consumption and disease. And, Here is the website of Dr. Fuhrman, who I saw on PBS after I watched a documentary citing the works of 2 other doctors who found the same evidence. Look at his food pyramid!
I had, in my own diet, cut out all dairy except the occasional sprinkle of cheese or ice cream treat. I had given my girls coconut or almond milk before when we were out of cow's milk and they were not opposed to it, so I decided NOT to buy a half gallon organic cows milk this week and instead an extra container of almond milk. They are fine with it! I also announced we were going on a "Meatless Monday, Wednesday, Friday" diet. This has been a little trickier. They did not care for my TVP "meetloaf".... if at first you don't succeed, try try again! And I will keep trying and experimenting with new recipes until I find several that will keep my kids happy those 3 nights per week. I also declared they can only have school lunch 2 times per week (the school lunches are utterly deplorable!) so I printed out the calendar and let them choose their 2 days at the beginning of the week. They are getting sick of tuna fish, are not allowed to bring PB&J to school because of children with peanut allergies and rejected my substitute of "Sunbutter" (sunflower seed butter). Thinking of finding a good tofu salad recipe; they love tofu. I tried to explain the changes to my eldest and encouraged her to research for herself, she refuses, she's just pissed at me and cited these dietary changes as the reason she's dorming at WCSU next year.... so be it. She literally said to me, "I'm too old to make these kind of changes now, it's too late".... LOL.
So, beyond that, how did I incorporate more ginger, turmeric, garlic, green tea, etc into my diet? Well to start with I made a potent ginger tea using grated ginger (then some sliced because grating ginger gets really tiring!) and lemons- simmer together for about 10 minutes then let cool and poured into ice cube trays. I brewed a concentrated green tea, then diluted it into a pitcher of filtered water, put that in the fridge. So a couple times/day I'll have iced green tea using a couple of my ginger tea ice cubes. Has green tea replaced my morning coffee? Not yet.... that's a hard one I love my morning coffee, but it has replaced coffee on the couple evenings per week that I work till 9:30. And over all I feel much better and have more energy so don't feel like I need the coffee on those nights so much anymore. I incorporated turmeric, ginger and garlic in a couple soups I made; sautee assorted veggies (including thin sliced ginger and garlic) in coconut oil then add (vegetarian) chicken broth, sea salt, some lentils and a crap load of turmeric, curry powder and a little cayenne pepper and simmer for about 45minutes... yum!! If you like Indian food you gotta try that, hits the spot, and clears your sinuses too!
I'm really excited about going back to school in 6 weeks; I've been reading about Health Coaching and thinking about the possibilities. I would love to work under a ND, helping clients make these types of lifestyle changes. I think it takes more than handing someone a diet plan; people need one on one assistance in the grocery store and at home if they have been used to living a typical American lifestyle this stuff will seem very foreign to them. Will be sharing some of the stuff I'm learning right here, stay tuned :)
Miss Z
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