Jack and my Juice

that sounds kind of wrong, but it's really just two completely unrelated topics.

Jack is the cutiest cute baby I have ever seen. He is loving, cuddly, sweet and quiet. (Quiet is a big issue in our house... I seem to have some noise sensitivities). I totally love that he knows when he is tired and ready for bed. He will be fine, just bouncing along with a smile, and then he squawks that he is ready for bed. I just hold him in his sleep time position (face in my armpit) and he is out! Done. I <3 him.

Okay, Juice. I like to start my day with some juicy juice. It is green juice, and super hydrating. Yum. Some people find the taste very vegetabley, but i guess it is a taste you work up to. I think it tastes fresh.

I have a fancy high powered juicer, and it wasn't cheap, but if you are going to juice veggies every day, the investment is worth it. I also have a centrifugal juicer, and it worked for a while. I still use it for fruits.

My fave juice recipe:
1 head of lettuce (never iceberg)
Handful of spinach
3 carrots
3 stalks celery
1 cucumber
1 apple (I like granny smith)
1 lemon, peel removed
handful of cilantro for zing

Really Real Raw

Anybody that knows me, knows that I am a vegetarian. Some people think I am lame and wonder why I just won't eat like everyone else, why I have to be so picky. Well, it's about to get worse, baby! Monday next marks the first day of whole family raw-ness. As a family we are moving to a vegetarian, 90%-95% raw diet.

So, common questions from the peanut gallery.

Yes, we will be getting enough nutrition. Yes, even the kids. To ensure optimum nutrition, we will be supplementing with vitamins D3, K2, B12, calcium, DHA, and soy lecithin. Also, the kids will probably have 1 or 2 eggs a week and we may all have some organic yogurt on occasion.

Yes, the kids will pack lunches, and we will bring food in to any event that SAD (standard American diet) will be served.

Yes, the kids are on board for the most part. We have talked about nutrition and and healthy bodies, immune systems and weight. My kids are used to a vegetarian life style already.

Yes, the kids will eat the food. As mentioned, they already eat a mostly vegetarian lifestyle. I won't be cooking anything. I will be un-cooking. Eat it or don't is my philosophy. Dig it.

No, we won't be dining on carrot sticks and sprouted sunflower seeds. It is a delicious and healthy way to prepare food. And we won't have to eat any mushy, overcooked broccoli.

Yes, it is going to be a hard transition for a while. I have a serious sugar addiction, and so do the kids. The first step is acknowledgment, right?


On to the recipe from yesterday!

Raw Cream of Tomato Soup

So this may sound kinda icky, but it really wasn't. It made a creamy frothy soup and the apples were a great sweet contrast to the tomato.

4-5 fresh fragrant tomatoes, quartered
1/4 c. cilantro
1 avocado, pitted and scooped out
1 packet stevia
1 t agave nectar
sea salt and fresh pepper to taste
1/2 c. chopped apple
1/2 c. corn, fresh off the cob

In the blender, blend all ingredients, except apples and corn, until creamy.
Divide apples and corn between two bowls.
Ladle soup over corn and apples.
Eat. Enjoy. Eat some more.

B-12 really *is* important.

Back in January I was told that I had a B-12 deficiency.  I kinda blew it off.  Ehhh, B-12, who needs that?!  Well, apparently I do.  I have been seeing doctor after doctor to figure out my health "issues" and in the process was referred to a hematologist for a sudden and large drop in my HGB levels.  Of course, it took Tricare 600 years 2 1/2 months to get my referral in.  Today I visited with the hematologist.  Basically I have pernicious anemia.

From the Mayo Clinic website:

• Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia (pernicious anemia). Rarely, vitamin B-12 deficiency results from a diet lacking in vitamin B-12, which is found mainly in meat, eggs and milk. A shortage occurs because your small intestine can't absorb vitamin B-12. A deficiency is most often due to a lack of a substance called intrinsic factor.
  
  
  Vitamin B-12 is released from food in your stomach. Intrinsic factor is a protein secreted by the stomach that joins vitamin B-12 in the stomach and escorts it through the small intestine to be absorbed by your bloodstream. Without intrinsic factor, vitamin B-12 can't be absorbed and leaves your body as waste. Lack of intrinsic factor may be due to an autoimmune reaction, in which your immune system mistakenly attacks the stomach cells that produce it. Vitamin B-12 deficiency ultimately leads to anemia. The Doctor says it is most likely an autoimmune disorder.
  
  
  If the deficiency is from a lack of intrinsic factor, it's called pernicious anemia. Pernicious means "deadly." Super Great. Lack of intrinsic factor was often fatal before the availability of vitamin B-12 shots. Because vitamin B-12 is stored in large amounts in your liver, it may take several years before signs of deficiency appear. Makes sense.  I started having the stomach problems about 11 years ago.  Doc said the IBS is most likely a symptom of this autoimmune disorder.
  
  Symptoms:
  Vitamin deficiency anemias can result in:
  
• Fatigue  check!
• Pale or yellowish skin
• Sore mouth and tongue halfway check!
• Weight loss I wish!
• Diarrhea
• Numbness or tingling in your hands and feet check!
• Muscle weakness sometimes
• Irritability double check!
• Unsteady movements you mean the doorways aren't jumping at me??
• Mental confusion or forgetfulness What was I doing?

Vitamin deficiencies usually develop slowly, over several months to years. Vitamin deficiency symptoms may be subtle at first, but they increase as the deficiency worsens.

• 
  Complications: Nervous system disorders. While vitamin B-12 is important for the production of red blood cells, it's also important for a healthy nervous system. Untreated, vitamin B-12 deficiency can lead to neurological problems, such as persistent tingling in your hands and feet. It can lead to mental confusion and forgetfulness, because vitamin B-12 is necessary for healthy brain function. Vitamin B-12 deficiency can cause these and other health problems before it leads to anemia. So, if it is already at anemia... does that mean it is progressed??  Have I left this untreated for too long??
  
   Treatment: Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia (pernicious anemia). You can treat vitamin B-12 deficiency related to a poor diet with changes in your diet and vitamin B-12 supplementation, under a doctor's supervision. If your body can't absorb vitamin B-12, you'll either need lifelong vitamin B-12 injections or nasal B-12 spray. At first you'll need the shots or nasal spray as often as every other day. Eventually you'll need injections or the nasal spray just once a month. Prompt treatment is important, because neurological complications may become permanent if the B-12 deficiency isn't corrected within several months. PERMANENT??
  
  So.... I am not sure what all this means for me.  I gave 542 vials of blood at the office today.  I go back in a week and may need another CT scan and a chest xray.  He says that if I have one autoimmune disorder, then I will likely have another one.  poo.
  
  

Juice Feasting

I love raw food.  I got away from it this winter and am ready to renew my commitments!  So, I started a juice feast.  4-5 quarts of yummy healthy juice every day for 90 days.  Yes, 90.

So yesterday I started with 2 quarts.  I had lettuce, spinach, carrots, celery, cilantro, lemon, apple and beet juice.  I drank that in the AM and had a regular dinner.

Today I wanted to do my whole day juicy, but, alas, I watched my extra kiddos today.  I was slightly stressed about having 6 kids inside on a rainy icky day, and a puppy that doesn't understand not to jump and chew and pee on the floor.  Then it took like 2 hours to juice all my stuff for the day. Fast forward to lunch time and I was all tense with a facial tic.

My juice today: 48 ounces of orange, pineapple, strawberry juice.  Berry berry good.
96 ounces of romaine, spinach, carrots, cucumber, cilantro, celery, apple, lemon.

I drank all the fruit juice first, and was full FOREVER, so I did not have any more until about 5.  I drank the remaining quart from yesterday and another quart from today, so total intake was 102 ounces of juice. Then I was craving french fries, pasta, anything!  I know it has to do with an addiction to crappy food so I tried to resist but I lost.  I had a bowl of pasta salad we made for dinner.  It was a fairly healthy meal though.  rotini noodles, broccoli, carrots, celery, peppers, tomatoes, whole olives, cheddar cheese chunks in a zesty italian dressing. Yum! I only had a small bowl and now I feel super full.

I can tell I am detoxing right now.. should be a scary week or so.  I have had no soda in over 24 hours.. this is a big accomplishment for me!  I feel light headed and fuzzy and TIRED.  I know that in a couple days I will feel better, but it's a bitch in the meantime. Before anyone freaks out, I had the same symptoms when i moved to raw food from standard american diet last time.  Only this time I am not chewing. :)

I need to get some cute straws.  Maybe glass ones. I have been eyeballing them.I think maybe I should vlog these things.  Maybe.

craziness

Some days I feel like Jean Grey. Shit falls apart all around me. I am dangerous and scary.




Some days Meredith Brooks says perfectly.


We found out a couple days ago that I may have some health problems. The joy of military health care is that it takes forever to see a specialist. I have a great primary care provider, and she says things aren't right but she doesn't know what or the severity of my problems. I will most likely need surgery, but I don't know until I get the surgical consult.

I had to give 600 stool samples. It was soo-oo grody. Nothing like filling a bunch of cups full of shit. mmmm, good times.

So I feel slightly crazy. I keep having an image in my head. I am standing in the middle of a hurricane. Trees are whipping around and I can hear the wind blowing through the streets. I am standing in the middle of the melee perfectly still. Not one hair on my head moves. It is the perfect opposite of how I feel now. Instead of chaos inside, it is chaos outside.