7 Day Water Fast

Well, I'm almost done.  Today is the last day of my 7 day water fast.  I've been talking to the Lord, thanking Him for everything He has blessed me with, asking Him to help me be a better servant of Him, wife, mother, employee, etc.


I've lost about 10-11 lbs., depending on which scale I used.  I feel good, but a little weak and dizzy once in a while.  I also dislike very much the taste in my mouth.. yuck.  I have to brush my teeth several times a day.


Another fun thing is that my office is doing a challenge to see who loses the most weight in 12 weeks.  There are over 300 employees in the challenge and tomorrow is the final weigh in.  I'm hoping to at least win top loser in my department, but if I get 1st, 2nd, or 3rd overall I will be ecstatic.  I'll let you know the outcome in a later post.


I will be breaking my fast tomorrow, after the weigh in.  I plan to eat watermelon first, then maybe some vegetable broth.  For lunch I plan to have a carrot & cabbage salad with fresh squeezed orange as a dressing.  I might also have some steamed chard and tomatoes.  Dinner will be the same with maybe some zucchini or other vegetable I have.  I'll be drinking vegetable broth and maybe some fresh fruit and vegetable juice (from my juicer) during the day.. Mmm I can't wait :-)


I have been doing short videos each day so I will try to edit that and post it on another day.

Liver Cleanse Drink

My mom told me about this drink for cleansing your liver.

Ingredients:

1 T. Apple Cider Vinegar

1 T. Honey

1 T. Lemon Juice

1/8 tsp. Turmeric, ground

1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

1/8 tsp. Rosemary

1 c. Hot Water

Mix all and drink warm first thing in the morning.
Drink every morning for 30 days.

Raw Apple Pie

I made a raw apple pie today.  It was delicious and the kids loved it.

Here is a video about how to make the pie:  FullyRaw Apple Pie
The only thing I did different was I added walnuts to the crust and sprinkled some on top.  Mmm

Here's the one I made

Seven Day Water Fast (Day 7)

I was too tired to post last night so here is my final post for my seven day water fast.  On Saturday I wasn't very hungry and I actually felt good.  I have noticed that it's hard to take deep breaths.  I also get out of breath very easily.  I also don't sleep very well.  I didn't sleep hardly at all on Friday night and last night.  Most of the night I just laid there with my eyes closed and tossed and turned a lot.

I was kind of upset because when I weighed myself on Saturday morning I had only lost about 1/2 a lb, but this morning I lost 2 lbs.  That makes a total weight loss of 12 lbs in 7 days :-).  I'm happy with that.

The first thing I ate this morning before church was a little watermelon.  It was soooo good.  Mmm mmm.  Then after church I made myself a lemon ginger blast.  I put in kale, dandelion, romaine, cilantro, parsley, mint, fennel, cucumber, ginger, lemon, apple, & a piece of a habanero pepper.  Oh man was it good!  That little bit of spice from the habanero was perfect, delicious!  We had to run an errand with my husband and then when we got home I had a bowl of watermelon with lemon squeezed on top and sprinkled with cayenne pepper.  It was very good.  I can't wait to have the grapes, cherries, and yellow mangoes I bought.  Maybe tomorrow I'll have a salad for dinner :-).

This picture isn't me.  Just to give you an idea of watermelon with lemon and cayenne.

Seven Day Water Fast (Day 6)

Well today was better than the previous 5.  I think my body is saying, "Fine if you're not going to eat any stinkin' food then forget it, I'm not hungry anymore."  LOL

I went to the grocery store today to buy all the stuff for juicing and eating next week.  Got 2 watermelons, Mmm, and lots of vegetables and fruit for juicing.  I love fruits and vegetables, but they looked even better than usual.  Sprouts had the yellow mangoes again :-).  They were out for a few weeks, but they're back.  I like regular mangoes, but the yellow ones are only in season once a year and they are WAY better!

There's a juice called Lemon Ginger Blast I learned from a video on YouTube.  The guy talks a lot, but I agree with most of what he says in his videos.  He has tons of raw vegan recipes that are very good.  Watch the video about how to make the juice here.  There are a lot of ingredients and I don't put everything he puts in, but mine is similar.

When I weighed myself this morning I had lost 3 lbs since yesterday, WOW!  That makes a total weight loss of 10 lbs in 5 days.  Super cool!

Seven Day Water Fast (Day 5)

We found our dog!  So happy that he was uninjured.  He was picked up a few blocks from our house by an animal control officer.  Don't even ask how much it costed to get him out, ugh.

Zeus' Shelter Photo

You know how they say that when you're on a fast, after 3 or 4 days you're not hungry anymore?  Well that is a big fat lie.  I have to make food for kids and my husband and it's driving me flippin' crazy!  I want to eat so bad, but I know if I actually did break down and eat meat it would mess my stomach up pretty bad.  Sometimes I feel so hungry I get nauseous.  It's more mental hunger than physical hunger though.  I think my mouth just misses food.  Still craving Top Ramen too :-(.

The first day after my fast it's best to eat watermelon so I'm going to buy a big one tomorrow.  I'll also be drinking green juice.  I was kind of disappointed when I stepped on the scale this morning.  I only lost 1 lb since yesterday.  That is a total of 7 lbs in 4 days.  I'm hoping to lose a total of more than 10 lbs when I step on the scale on Sunday morning.

Seven Day Water Fast (Day 4)

Well today was a little better, but we had a horrible incident that made the day awful.

Unfortunately I didn't close the gate to our back yard all the way when I took out our trash bins and our dog ran off.  Drove around for hours looking for him, passed out flyers, called shelters, went to vet offices, posted him on lost dog website, went to a shelter and looked at all the found dogs... nothing :-(.  Hopefully he turns up soon, uninjured.

As for my fasting, it went OK, but I'm exhausted because all the stress from the dog incident.  I'm still a little hungry, but I'm maintaining and only drinking distilled water.  I started having a craving for top ramen for some reason.  I LOVE top ramen, but I know it's so bad so I very rarely eat it and when I do it's only a few bites.  Also been wanting Suzy Q's.. you remember Suzy Q's?  They're those hostess cakes with the two chocolate cake layers on the top and bottom with a white creamy filling in the middle, Mmm.  I haven't had one for years and for some reason I can never find them at the store, I guess that's a blessing in disguise.

I'm trying to plan what I'm going to have on Sunday when the fast is over, but I think I'm going to do just juice from my juicer for a few days and then slowly add in a smoothie, and then soup and salad.  I really don't want to regain the weight I lost.  You won't believe it, but when I stepped on the scale this morning I lost 3 lbs since yesterday, wow!  That makes a total of 6 lbs so far, awesome!

Seven Day Water Fast (Day 3)

Well, today I was still hungry, but not as much as yesterday.  I think I'm getting used to it.  I was very weak though.  Just wanted to lay down all day, but I had to take my kids to their baseball games.  I was laying down for a while and when I got up to make lunch for the kids I got very dizzy and almost fell down.. lol.  I also tripped while I was walking up the stairs.  I just walk up and down the stairs and I get out of breath.

I prayed right when I woke up and a few times during the day.  Another cool thing is I lost 2 lbs since yesterday, so that makes 3 lbs lost in total :-)

Seven Day Water Fast (Day 2)

Hungry, hungry, and hungry.  Aaaaa!!!  Yeah, today was just as difficult as yesterday (especially between 11 am and 7 pm), but I'm proud to say I didn't eat anything :-).  Also, why the heck am I burping.  I thought if I was only drinking water that I wouldn't burp.  I guess water makes me burp too... weird.

I've also been dizzy, especially when getting up from sitting or laying down.  Feels kind of like a buzz.  Then I go through phases of extreme hunger and then not interested in food and I feel completely fine, just slightly weak.  I did get on the scale this morning and I've lost 1 pound since yesterday, yay!

Seven Day Water Fast (Day 1)

Well, I'm finally doing it.  I've been wanting to do a fast for a few months now and today was my first day.  It wasn't so hard in the morning because I don't usually eat so much in the morning.  For the past month or so I've been only drinking juice for breakfast (from my juicer), having a smoothie for lunch, and a salad for dinner.

The afternoon was the hardest part of today because that is usually when I'm hungriest.  I wanted to eat so bad, but I restrained myself.  It's almost midnight now and I'm not very hungry at all because I don't usually eat after 6 or 7 pm.  Hopefully this gets easier.

Why am I fasting you ask?  My main purpose for this fast is to pray for direction in my business.  Do I continue with my current business or search for an office job?  I'm also doing it for health purposes.  Fasting is very beneficial for your health and let's your body rest.  Our bodies spend so much time digesting food that it doesn't have much energy left to heal itself.  I'm also hoping I will lose a few pounds.. I think that's inevitable with fasting so that will be nice.

Cauliflower Pizza

I made a cauliflower pizza again tonight.  I made it for the first time a few weeks ago and it was very good.  The crust is made with NO all-purpose flour, but cauliflower instead.  I think my mom told me about it first and then I looked for it online.  I found a good video on YouTube of a guy making the pizza.  It's called Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe - Cauliflower Pizza "Dough" Recipe.

I didn't have any parmigiano reggiano so I left that out, but I did add the goat cheese.. Mmm.  I also added 1 tablespoon of flax meal and 1 tablespoon of brown rice flour to the dough to soak up the moisture a little more.  For the toppings I used Hunt's mushroom pasta sauce, manchego cheese (sheep's milk cheese), mushrooms, and olives.

It was delicious!!

Strawberry Shortcake (no sugar or flour)

I made this Fully Raw Strawberry Shortcake that I saw on YouTube by "FullyRawKristina".  She has a lot of raw vegan recipes that look so good.  She's a little too happy and sometimes just plain goofy, but you get used to it.  Maybe all of us would benefit if we were to "practice a little... excessive happiness" (Patch Adams).

My whipped cream was way too watery and I left in the freezer over night... so it ended up like one big block of strawberry ice.  I think my problem was that I added too much water to my homemade almond milk.  I might try this recipe again next week and hopefully I'll get the whipped cream right.

I thawed it out for a few hours and my husband and kids liked it, but it should be better next time.

Broccoli Vinaigrette

I found another delicious healthy recipe.  If you like broccoli and you like the taste of vinegar, you'll love this.  I can't get enough of it.  The recipe serves 2, but I eat the whole thing.  Mmm.

It's a recipe from Dr. Joel Fuhrman's website and it's called Broccoli Vinaigrette.

When you click on the link it takes you to his recipe library so you'll have to scroll down to see it.  It's under "Sample Salad Recipes".  I don't have the "Dr. Fuhrman VegiZest" that it calls for so I sprinkle some Herbamare or sea salt, Cayenne Pepper, and Turmeric to taste.  I also use regular yellow mustard instead of dijon.



Here's the recipe in case the link doesn't work:

BROCCOLI VINAIGRETTE
1 Large Head Broccoli
1/4 c. Seasoned Rice Vinegar
1 T. Dr. Fuhrman's VegiZest
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
2 cloves Garlic, pressed or minced

Chop broccoli into bite-sized florets.  Peel stems and slice them into 1/4 inch strips.  Steam florets and stems for 8 minutes, or until just tender.  While the broccoli is steaming, whisk remaining ingredients in large bowl.  Add broccoli and toss to mix.

Date-Nut Fruit Pie

Lately I've been reading about different kinds of eating lifestyles: paleo (caveman diet), vegetarian (no meat, fish, or poultry), raw food vegan (no meat or food that comes from animals), etc.  I am interested to see what would happen if I ate only plant food.  I love fruit, vegetables, nuts, beans, and seeds so I think I'd be okay with it.

Last week I watched a show called "Engine 2 Kitchen".  It's a firefighter who's into nutrition and has a product line that is supposedly healthier than average.  On the show he goes into people's pantries and gets rid of all the junk and helps them shop for healthier alternatives.  Then he cooks with them in their kitchen and makes healthier versions of typical dishes.  Tonight I made the Date-Nut Fruit Pie from the website.  It's so easy and no baking required, it just goes in the frig for an hour and then it's ready to eat.  It's made with dates, nuts, and fruit... THAT'S ALL.  No flour.. no sugar.. no junk.  It's SO GOOD... even my kids love it.  I highly recommend you try it.  It's a raw food vegan dish...  Mmm good :-)

Sugar Free Flourless Cheesecake Madelines

I was searching for a cheesecake recipe with no sugar and no all-purpose flour.  I came across one that was close to what I was looking for, but it had flour so I substituted the flour with almond flour which is just ground almonds.  I also thought it would be creative to make them into madelines.  Here's the recipe:

SUGAR FREE FLOURLESS CHEESECAKE MADELINES
Makes 1 dozen

Ingredients:
1/2 c. Almond flour
1/2 tsp. Truvia or other sugar substitute
1 T. butter, melted
4 oz. Cream cheese
1 Egg white
1 T. Raw organic honey
1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Instructions:
Mix almond flour, truvia, and butter til blended.

Press into a madeline cookie mold pan.

Mix the rest of the ingredients til smooth.

Spoon onto each cookie mold crust.

Bake at 325 degrees for 12 minutes or until tops start to crack and edges turn slightly golden brown.

Allow to cool and then remove from molds.

Enjoy.  Mmm...

Try dipping them in chocolate.  Mmm

I got the nutrition facts from recipenutrition.com.  The information below is with coconut sugar instead of truvia.  I'm trying to create a recipe with less calories per cookie, but it does have cheesecake on it which means cream cheese which means high calorie and fat.  Maybe use a fat free or light cream cheese, but that will only remove one or two calories per cookie.  I made a cake once that called for mascarpone which is very similar to cream cheese.  It's delicious, but using mascarpone will probably double the calories and fat per cookie.  Needless to say, I never made that cake again... but it was delish!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size (20 g), Servings Per Recipe 12

Amount Per Serving:  Calories 76, Calories from Fat 54 (71%)

% Daily Value:  *Total Fat 6g 9 %, Saturated Fat 2.7g 14 %, Monounsaturated Fat 1.3g, Polyunsaturated Fat 1.8g, Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 12g 4 %, Sodium 41mg 2 %, Potassium 17mg 0 %, Total Carbohydrate 2g 1 %,Dietary Fiber 0g 0 %, Sugars 1g, Protein 2g 4 %, Vitamin A 3%, Vitamin C 0%, Calcium 1%, Iron 0%*

The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Elimination Diet (Day 2 of 5)

Made it through today, but I'm sick of broth and green tea.  I feel good, so that's a plus.

I like my breakfast and lunch, but I need to pick up some good salmon.  The salmon I'm eating has been in the freezer for a while so it's a bit dry :-p

Elimination Diet (Dr. Oz Show)

Ok, so I'm trying out this "Elimination Diet" I saw on the Dr. Oz Show.  I think it aired on 11/13/13.  The purpose of this diet is to find any hidden food allergies.  Let's see what I find.

Here's the link to the diet if you want to try it:

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/elimination-diet-printable-one-sheet

First, you eat a simple diet (shown at the link above and listed below) for a week and then start to introduce foods into your diet and see how it makes you feel.  If you have brain fog, fatigue, gas, rashes, etc, it may mean you are allergic to that food.

Breakfast (7-9 am):  1 cup green tea, 1 cup hot rice cereal, 1 T. almonds, 1 T. pumpkin seeds, 1 cup strawberries.  I used no sugar or sweeteners.

Morning Snack (10-11 am):  1 cup low sodium vegetable broth, 1 apple, & 1 oz. almonds

I used chicken broth before I realized it was supposed to be vegetable.  I also had no low sodium broth so I used half regular and half no sodium broth.

Lunch (12-1 pm):  4-6 oz chicken breast, 2 cups lightly sauteed green vegetables (with 1 T. olive oil), 1/2 cup brown rice (I had broccoli & brussels sprouts for my green vegetables.. Mmm)

Afternoon Snack (2-3 pm):  1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth, 1 oz. almonds, 1 cup raspberries, 1 cup green tea (I got too busy and skipped this snack)

Dinner (5-7 pm):  4-6 oz. salmon, 2 cups lightly sauteed green vegetables (with 1 T. olive oil), 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth

Reboot - Day 15 of 15

Wake up:  Hot lemon ginger water

Breakfast:  Morning Green Glory (this wasn't good today)

I think the juices are good some times depending on the sweetness of the fruit and vegetables.

Morning Snack:  Coconut water

Lunch:  Un-Beet-able (this wasn't good today either)

Afternoon Snack:  Morning Glory

Dinner:  Un-Beet-able

Dessert:  Purple Passion

Before Bed:  Herbal Tea

I've been supplementing these juices with regular food.  I think tomorrow I'll start back on day one with slight changes.  I've noticed that foods I used to eat without any issues, now upset my stomach.  I guess I have to get used to eating regular food.  I'm definitely going to be juicing and eating a clean diet daily.  I'm still down 10 lbs, but I have 10 more lbs to lose.  I also need to tone up my core.

Reboot - Day 14 of 15

Wake up:  Hot lemon ginger water

Breakfast:  Carrot Apple Ginger

I made the sunrise juice instead and my parents were visiting and we made a big home made breakfast.

We had coffee, eggs, bacon, potatoes, and home made tortillas.. Mmmmmm

Morning Snack:  Coconut water

Lunch:  Garden Variety (I didn't drink this one)

Afternoon Snack:  Carrot Apple Ginger

I put way too much ginger and by bedtime my stomach was hurting.  Not sure if it was because of all the ginger or because I had a regular breakfast.

Dinner:  Garden Variety  (I didn't have this one or the 2 below because of a stomach ache)

Dessert:  Watermelon Crush

Before Bed:  Herbal Tea

Reboot - Day 13 of 15

Wake up:  Hot lemon ginger water

Breakfast:  Sunrise juice

Morning Snack:  Coconut water

Lunch:  Green Lemonade

Afternoon Snack:  Sunrise juice

Dinner:  Green Lemonade

Dessert:  Peach/Pear Pie Delight

Before Bed:  Herbal tea

My parents showed up at my house at about 6pm this evening.  YAY!!