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Apples Day Two

Well, it’s day two of the apple fast, and I am feeling heaps better. I’m not 100%, but I think the worst of the stomach bug passed last night. I was feeling really sick before I was finally able to fall asleep, and now I’m just feeling a bit hungry for something other than apples.

I’ve had faint twinges from my gallbladder today, which I assume to mean that the ‘spurs’ are being taken care of. I’m a little nervous still about passing them tomorrow, but I will be soooo happy to finally be rid of the buggers!

Of course, that means I have to make sure they’re actually gone, but we won’t get into that part, okay?

I have the grapefruit, olive oil and tea all ready to go. Now I just have to be patient and hang out until tomorrow.

May the time go fast…

Category: Food, General  Comments off

How Do You Like Dem Apples?

After being woken up early this morning by a gallbladder attack – and I hadn’t eaten anything that would set me off – I said enough is enough.

It’s apple fast time.

While I’m not keen on the amount of sugar I’ll be getting during the fast, it’s a specific acid in apples that will reduce the ‘spurs’ on my stones that I’m after. I’ll eat apples and drink apple juice (and water) for three days. On the evening of the third day, I’ll drink a grapefruit juice and olive oil combo that will cause my gallbladder to contract and squeeze the stones out.

This particular treatment for stones has a 100% success rate and comes from a naturopath I trust.

I’m feeling so cranky, nauseated and down right now. I’m tired, and I absolutely hate not knowing what’s going on in my body. I can handle anything so long as I know what it is.

But, come Friday morning, the stones should be well and truly gone, and I’ll be able to focus on what’s left.

Please forgive me for being cranky. I’ll be in a lot better mood on Friday.

Category: Diets, Food  4 Comments

Stop Eating McDonalds

It’s no secret that I’m anti-McDonalds, but this isn’t a rant on how evil it is or whatever else comments I could say about the corporation. This is merely a video I would like to pass on so you can make your own judgments.

Author and Obesity Activist Julia Havey has kept a McDonald’s burger and fries with her for over three years now. No shrink wrap, no preservatives – just a McDonald’s happy meal in a lunch box. Nothing beyond that.
And yet, somehow, the McDonald’s burger seems to be aging better than every skin-cream addicted, botox-loving person out there.

Scary stuff.

I think the thing I really can’t get past is that the fries are still golden and greasy. You would think they would at least have dried out completely by now or be falling apart like the hamburger bun is starting to. But no, still greasy, oily, and the same colour.

And people are feeding this to their children? Gross.

The thing is, most people don’t chew properly. Even the people who do chew properly get things stuck in their intestines. We’re talking whole pieces of broccoli sometimes. Just imagine what McDonalds does when it gets stuck in your body.

That’s right – a whole lot of nothing because it seems to be a bit impervious to the natural laws surrounding ‘real’ food.

I am tempted to buy my own little happy meal and see this happen with my own eyes, but I don’t think I could keep that smell in the house. I just hope this video gets around and wakes people up a bit.

Category: Food, Videos  4 Comments

Bean Surprise

beansNo, I’m not talking about the mystery dish Aunt Ethyl always brought to Christmas dinner that everyone was always too afraid to try.

When I was growing up, I hated the beans my mother bought for us. The beans were gross, whatever they were packed in was almost sweet (not a taste I think should be associated with beans, that’s for sure), and the beans were really small. I avoided beans at all costs unless it involved a burrito (that my mother didn’t make).

When I started on the South Beach diet, I saw that I could have beans. Kidney beans, butter beans, chickpeas, soy beans, etc. Seeing as I could obviously well and truly indulge in the bean side of things, I decided I would give them another go. After all, since coming to Australia I have tried a lot of things I ‘didn’t like’ only to find I like them a lot. (Broccoli, mushrooms, pumpkin…)

There are cans of ‘three bean mix’ that I get for less than a dollar a can at Aldi’s and they are fantastic! (Well, as fantastic as beans go, anyway.) A little bit of soy sauce or sesame oil can give me a bit more flavor if I want it. I can add in mushrooms to bulk it up a bit or even melt cheese on top.

I now absolutely love beans and it’s such a good thing!

Beans are great for a number of reasons:

*Low GI
*High protein (which makes them excellent for vegetarians)
*High iron
*High calcium

…and oodles of other things.

So even if you didn’t/don’t like beans, I urge you to try some different kinds. They’re great!

Category: Food  4 Comments

Confessions of a Chocolate Addict

chocolateWhen it comes to chocolate…

…I feel like a drug addict.

Does anyone else feel this way? I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but it’s how I feel. Sometimes I truly feel a little uneasy, a bit cranky, a bit whatever if I don’t get some chocolate. I am usually okay, but on some days…

Are you like this? Do you have an addiction to chocolate? A passion for pasta?

I think the predominant addiction is chocolate, and I’m not the only one who things so. According to this study from Northwestern University, “Many food scientists have reported chocolate to be the single most craved food. Some researchers have even argued that chocolate is addictive.”

So what can you do about it? There are some things:

1. Ease yourself off it. If you eat a chocolate bar a day (which I hope none of you actually do), try cutting it down to half a bar for one week. Then a quarter of a bar for the next week and after that, try cutting daily down to every other day and so on.

2. Go cold turkey. That’s probably the hardest way and the one that will see you with some side effects, but it might be the only way that helps you.

3. Give yourself strict limits. This only works if you have enough will power, but while I was cutting down my sweets but not ready to go completely without it, I limited myself to two squares (about the size of the tip of my pinky) of dark (healthier) chocolate.

4. Find a healthier alternative. My big thing now is actually raw chocolate, free from sugar, flour, dairy, all that other crap and even free from artificial sweeteners.

Do you have any food addictions? What do you do to save yourself from overindulgence?

Category: Food, General  2 Comments