Day 11

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Mental Status

It happened. My body finally, irrefutably said "if you won't choose to sleep, you will comply by force." After ANOTHER 2:30 am night, I woke up at 8 like my alarm requested, and was met with a sore achy throat, stuffed nose, and general aching. Head cold. Grr. 

I called school to let them know I was sick, and slept for another 2 hours. SO NECESSARY. It was a much needed day of doing absolutely nothing. I forget that those need to happen every once and a while. 

Nourishment

  • (12:00--Bikram Yoga--90 minutes in a hot steamy room sounded like heaven.)
  • 2:00--Yam fries, chicken soup with extra bone broth, grapefruit, echinacea/goldenseal tincture, horseradish, pickle, raw ginger chopped w/ coconut vinegar
  • 4:00--2.5 TBSP of tahini. Gone :) also, tea with dandelion root, licorice root, raspberry leaves, and red clover. A few more bites of ginger. 
  • 6:00--Ginger, plantains in coconut oil and coconut flour, and 2 eggs in ghee. 
  • 8:00--Tea, ginger, and garlic. 

Cash Check

$23--Mostly from the echinacea tincture, but also the soup, yam fries, and grapefruit, and a bad case of "I'm too sick to care."

Conditioning 

An intentionally relaxed Bikram Yoga class. Nothing feels better when I have a cold. :)  

 

Day 10

Mental Status

Technology is wonderful, dangerous, potentially addictive, and has a HUGE learning curve. I have a much better grasp of iMovie than I did a day ago, but it took me way longer today to make that Bone Broth video than I feel like it should have. I blame my perfectionistic self :P

Physically I felt great until 2 hours ago when I could've gone to bed, but decided to finish the video.

...And then had the "nut butter conversation" with myself I described yesterday. Today was an intermittent fasting day, but it's not the eating that was the issue (I'm finding out that most intermittent fasting protocols actually end with an evening meal.)

It's the "my gut is a brick" feeling. Blah. There's not much left in the jar of Tahini, but I might toss it. Honestly, this is the first time I've purchased it and it's not that good. It's kind of bitter and grainy. Mmmm!  

All that aside, I had a great Bikram class this morning, got some stuff around the house done, worked supper at The Fig, and overall felt pretty dang good :) I think my body is finally adjusting! 

Nourishment

  • (9:30--Bikram)
  • 12:00--Bone broth, Gut Elixer, Milk thistle tincture
  • 1:30--16 oz. coffee
  • 5:00--1 TBSP coconut oil, 3 fillets of pickled herring, pickle
  • 7:30--Yogi Tea, a few bites of shrimp, a few bites of lamb, a little bit of stock
  • 10:00--raw garlic clove, an onion and a little broth, horseradish, raw chopped ginger with coconut vinegar
  • 12:00--Tahini time! :l 

Cash Check 

$0!!

Conditioning 

Bikram Yoga

Day 9

Mental Status

Lazy day bumming around with Dad :) Getting 7ish hours of sleep for the past few nights has been great! It's quite nice to go through a day without my body constantly reminding me of my unmet sleep needs. 

But… I can tell I'm falling into some typical habits I have when doing a period of body-resetting. Here are the three main ones:

Sometimes I picture what the pile of fruit would have looked like before it was dried. And then I wish I hadn't.

Sometimes I picture what the pile of fruit would have looked like before it was dried. And then I wish I hadn't.

Using dried fruit to bypass the no-sugar parameters.

I enjoy a huge array of intense flavors, and sweetness is one of them. "Enjoy," however, is not the word I would use to describe my bouts of cravings for sugar. "Obssessed" is a better word. 

The amount of natural sugar in dried fruit compared to... everything else (vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, protein, fiber… you know, the stuff natural sugar is usually attached to) is much closer to concentrated sweeteners (honey, molasses, maple syrup, etc) than fruit in its hydrated state. I am NOT saying dried fruit is bad, but it is best enjoyed sparingly.

For reasons you will soon understand, I am implementing a parameter for myself: dried fruit is to be enjoyed as an ingredient… but not a stand alone snack. (Note: "snack of dried fruit" actually means "compulsive consumption of all dried fruit within a 300 foot radius.")

Wait, you're telling me those jars aren't single-serving?? Those labels are so misleading...

Wait, you're telling me those jars aren't single-serving?? Those labels are so misleading...

Nut/seed Butter OD

Here is a typical conversation: 

Me: I feel like eating food!

Correct response: Are you hungry?

Actual response: Well, what's a convenient and delicious snack right now? 

Me: Oh, gee, I dunno. Hey! There's that jar of Tahini in the fridge! You could have a spoonful of that!

Me: You're so right! That sounds perfect! And it's great, because it's actually not very good for me--given all the Omega 6s, the oxidized PUFAs, and how incredibly densely caloric it is--so the sooner I eat it, the sooner it's gone! 

Me: You are so brilliant. *eats a spoonful of nut butter*

Me: My that was satisfactory.

5 minutes later: Repeat. 

30 minutes later:

Me: Why do I feel like I have a brick in my stomach? And who ate half of this jar of tahini???? 

Me: … :l I can explain. 

Is nut butter bad? No. Does it steal all of my self control? Yes.

Moral of the story: (To self) Just don't buy it, except maybe on occasion in bulk in a very small container with the awareness that I will consume the whole thing. 

 

General Grazing

This has more to do with my mentality than the food itself. It's a lapsing into a mindset where food is a constant distraction and need. Because I don't buy particularly snacky foods, this results in an odd consortium of non-meals. Why is this an issue?

A) My body feels best with at least 5 hours between meals, allowing time for a complete digestive cycle. 

B) It's distracting. A nice thing about intermittent fasting is that the thought "What's next?" for food isn't even there--it's a given that I won't be needing to eat. On eating days, it's easy for the thought of food to become an interruption (not due to actual hunger) to whatever I'm trying to accomplish. 

I did 2 food days in a row to switch things up a little bit, and I wanted to be able to eat out with my Dad. It's definitely a fasting day tomorrow--a rest and cleansing time for both my body and mind.

Nourishment

  • 11:00--2 dates, 8 dried apricots, banana, 8 oz coffee, pickle
  • 12:00--apple, 1/2 c. golden beets, steelhead trout fillet w/ garlic
  • 1:30--10 Prunes, pickle, 3 TBSP potato starch in water, 1 egg in ghee,
  • 3:00--Antipasto salad w/ grilled chicken (no dressing) at Cossetta's with Pa :) 
  • 4:30--carrot, dried mango, tahini (?) 
  • 6:00--Combo of stuff that just sounded really good together: 1 ripe banana, 1.5 TBSP tahini, 1/2 TBSP coconut oil, lemon juice, cinnamon. Yay for impromptu mashing. 
  • 10:00--milk thistle tincture, kombucha, 2 pickles, tahini (?) 3 fillets of pickled herring, raw garlic clove

The question marks behind the tahini indicate that I do not know quantities. What I do know is that half of the jar is, in fact, filled with air. I'll let that speak for itself. 

Cash Check

$18--Kombucha and the Farmer's Market this morning (eggs and a few other things)

Conditioning 

Not much, but a brief workout in the hot room while cleaning the yoga studio (a weekly thing I do in exchange for unlimited practice!) 

  • Some Yoga warmups 
  • 10 Burpees with a pushup and a tuck jump
  • 10 Reverse Ab Curls
  • Repeat Burpees and Ab Curls

Like I said. Short… but it was intense!

PS

I'm already noticing some changes in my body--my jeans are fitting better, and some of the muscle definition in my arms and legs is returning!! My skin texture is even starting to smooth out and calm down. My body is wanting more movement, and for the most part I haven't really wanted food that isn't part of my plan. Best of all though… is a major breakthrough in ideas around my art :) I have no idea how related that is to this, but it's been intense. My "doing things" motivation is growing! 

Day 8

Nourishment

  • 8:00--Bone broth, Gut Elixir
  • 10:30--Coffee with coconut milk
  • 12:00--1/2 sweet potato, 2 eggs in coconut oil
  • 5:30--1 cup of in-shell pistachios
  • 7:30--Veggie salad with almonds, steamed broccoli, garlic chicken, 2 large steel head trout fillets, 7 Dates, a cup of coffee--An absolutely wonderful "Erev Shabbat" meal at the Micko household <3
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Cash Check

$26.80--Pistachios, and a case of sardines from Mississippi Market that I special ordered. I'll have my sardine supply met for a while… and I got them on the sale price!

Conditioning 

X


Day 7

Mental Status

In a word: excited. It's official, my friend Lynn Maderich (who makes the BEST liver ever… and sauerkraut… and kombucha… and paintings…. :) and I are officially Gut Buddies! We joined The American Gut Project and will be not only getting our microbiomes tested, but we will also be contributing to this developing body of information on how our inner ecosystems relate to our lifestyles and food choices. …How cool is that??? 

Nourishment

My beautiful plate! (Next time I know to bring a better camera than just my iPod--this picture doesn't begin to do the meal justice.)

My beautiful plate! (Next time I know to bring a better camera than just my iPod--this picture doesn't begin to do the meal justice.)

  • 8:00--Bone Broth, Gut Elixir, Milk Thistle Tincture, Banana
  • 2:00--Kombucha, Green banana
  • (4:30--Bikram)
  • 7:30--Lynne's cooking put on magnificent display: after tasting her homemade fermented ketchup (SO good--the store-bought stuff tastes like plastic tomato flavored slime in comparison) we dined on braised liver that had been soaked in lemon juice, drained and dried, and tossed in organic blue cornflour--easily the best liver I've had (I'm STILL am amazed at how tender it was!) steamed kale dripping in raw butter, an assortment of gourmet olives, crispy bacon, a pile of delicious onions that had been cooked in its drippings, a side of purple sauerkraut (alway guaranteed delicious) and, of course, champagne flutes filled with perfectly tart and tangy kombucha tea, of Lynn's own making. … she even gave me the baby scobys at the bottom :) That was the most lingered-over meal I've experience in a while--thank you to a wonderful cook, host… and gut buddy :) Ideal initiation meal.  

Cash Check 

$95--Donation to the American Gut Project ($90) kombucha and a banana

Conditioning

Bikram Yoga. For as challenging as my Sunday class was, today may have been the best class I've had. The whole series felt natural, and I was able to push myself hard throughout the 90 minutes in every pose. It wasn't as hot as it often is, but I still worked up something of a sweat. This particular day of practicing was encouraging in a deep way :) I'm hoping to get in 6 or 7 days of consecutive practice in the near future--today was inspiring!

Day 6

Mental Status

I decided to indulge and purchased a bag of prunes while I was at Walgreens tonight. This was after deciding I didn't want to eat a banana this time of the night :l My logic is pure. (They're SUPER delicious though!) It's mostly an issue of moderation--namely, there is none. Dried fruit in particular. I think I'll bring the rest of the bag to school to avoid a repeat situation on Friday, but I'd say this was definitely worth it :) Chewy and sweet and moist and wonderful…mmmmmm. I'm starting to feel a sugar brain-fog though, so I think now is a good stopping point. 

All things considered, I felt AMAZING this afternoon and evening, but good lord… the morning was killer. I hit my snooze for 45 minutes and then was dragging--even after 3 big cups of coffee. 

I knew that 3 hour night would catch up with me! But again, my mental clarity and energy were super high after the morning. I'll be curious to see if any patterns emerge with energy and fasting days and times. 

 

The Epicurean Digest has a great little article that made me feel (almost) better.&nbsp;

The Epicurean Digest has a great little article that made me feel (almost) better. 

Nourishment

  • 7:45--Glutathione
  • (8:00--Bodyrock!)
  • 8:20--Gut elixir, onion, garlic, lamb liver, leeks, and an egg in ghee and bone broth, banana
  • 10:00--Coffee with coconut milk
  • 12:15--part of my salad (equal parts kale and cilantro, sardines in olive oil and lemon, carrot, dulse flakes, Coconut vinegar)
  • 3:00--yam with coconut oil, grapefruit
  • 5:00--the rest of my salad, a few slices of dried (unsweetened) mango, seaweed, a small handful of raisins, yogi tea
  • 10:00--PRUNES! 2 fillets of pickled herring, a bite of raw ginger, tea--dandelion root, licorice root, red raspberry leaves, red clover, broth, coconut oil, a drop of oregano oil

Cash Check

$3.00 <3 prunes

Conditioning

A 12 minute HIIT (hyper intense interval training) workout. Four different exercises done in intervals :10 rest + :50 work, so a minute for each exercise. This cycle is repeated 3x.

  • Speed Burpees: 22, 19, 22
  • Chair Dips: 14, 14, 13
  • Knee-to-Elbow Jump Squats: 26, 31, 29
  • Mike Tysons--a pushup variation where you do the pushup and then, without picking up your hands, bringing your butt back to your heels, then forward again into the next pushup: 7, 6, 9

 

Day 5

Mental Status

Definitely riding the superhuman end of the spectrum.

...strange considering that I'm being fueled by 3 hours of sleep. I know how this works though. It'll hit tomorrow. Also, I'm considering switching my fasting over to (kind of) 3 days of normal eating and then 1 fast day, and keep the fast a little bit stricter. I rarely count calories, but out of curiosity I did today and was around 1350, which (though substantially less than a normal day for me) doesn't actually stimulate the benefits of fasting. 

Adjusted fasting protocol:

  • Day 1--Eat normally
  • Day 2--Fasting (except for a cup of coffee w/ coconut oil NOT milk) until supper, when I'll also get my bone broth and gut elixir 
  • Day 3--Eat normally
  • Day 4--complete fast except coffee (same) and bone broth. (If I need it, an extra tablespoon or two of coconut oil on fasting days.) 
  • Repeat! 

This seems like a good adjustment for what my body is needing, so I'll try it and see if I get a favorable response :)

Nourishment 

  • 8:30--Bone Broth, Gut Elixir, apple cider vinegar w/ oregano oil
  • 10:00-- 40 oz. of coffee w/  3/4 c. coconut milk. This it what happens when I make coffee. I drink it. Who knew?
  • 2:30--small blood orange
  • 5:30--grapefruit and an apple
  • 10:00--banana, 1 TBSP coconut oil, 1 TBSP ghee, milk thistle tincture, 3 fillets of pickled herring, a bite of raw ginger

Cash Check

$15.50--Bulk Coffee, coconut milk, grapefruit, apple

Conditioning

… not today :)

Day 4

Mental Status

It's 3 in the morning on what is technically Day 5. That is all. 

Nourishment

Spyhouse Northeast

Spyhouse Northeast

  • 7:30--Glutathione, Coconut Vinegar with oregano oil 
  • (7:50--Bodyrock)
  • 8:15--Gut Elixer (with 3 oz. coconut water instead of kombucha) banana, 3 eggs in ghee, 2 lil pickled herring filets 
  • 9:45--16 oz. coffee w/ 1/3 c. coconut milk… that I mixed with the burnt remnants of yesterday's coffee pot. I learned later in the day that burnt coffee not only tastes awful but is also not something to put in your body. Oops! Another day on the learning curve of life. 
  • 12:15--BRASAAAAAA! I enjoyed a wonderful lunch with my friends and fellow artists Louise and Kenny. We began the meal with Crispy Yuca (which I have a sinking suspicion is cooked in some sort of vegetable oil. Note to self: rare treat.) And followed with some amazing rotisserie chicken, cartilage, joints, and all <3 OM NOM
  • 3:00--Chaga Tea (magical mushroom tea that will make me live forever)
  • 5:00--10 oz decaf coffee at Spyhouse with my precious friend Diane :) Quite possibly the most wonderful cup of decaf I have had ever. 
  • 9:00--a carrot, large onion, 1/2 sweet potato, leeks, bone broth and lamb liver in ghee, kombucha
  • … an unnamed hour--banana and 1 TBSP coconut oil, milk thistle tincture

Cash Check

$9--Coffee, Brasa 

Conditioning

Bodyrock: 550 Rep Challenge--I can already feel the "muscle awareness" (the term my lil cousin and I came up with for "sore") and a return of my leg muscles! 

PS

Goodnight :)

Day 3

Mental Status

BRAIN.jpg

I got 8 whole hours of sleep!! And felt friggin fantastic… until about 5:00 pm, but I'll get to that later ;) I had a 6-hour-straight day of painting (which, I promise you, can be mentally exhausting) and was charged for it. My model Phlaurel and I listened to a fascinating Radiolab podcast on (wait for it...) sleep! Definitely recommend it as an interesting listen. It also added to my mental arsenal of reasons-why-sleep-deprivation-is-a-bad-choice.

Which is a legitimate segment of the brain. 

Nourishment

My, um, adorable (?) homemade cozy. Which is actually a potholder and twine (born of necessity after my travel mug cracked from too much hot/freeze action.) …I've actually grown quite fond of it :)

My, um, adorable (?) homemade cozy. Which is actually a potholder and twine (born of necessity after my travel mug cracked from too much hot/freeze action.) …I've actually grown quite fond of it :)

  • 8:30--Bone Broth, Gut Elixir--Kombucha, Unmodified Potato Starch, Lewis Lab Brewer's Yeast
  • 11:00-3:00--3/4 can coconut milk (yup. almost a whole can of the super high fat concentrated stuff that's supposed to be for cooking. It's the first time I had it and was not expecting that degree of glorious deliciousness) and 32ishhh oz. coffee. The coconut milk was intended to be for the coffee… but somehow it just kept disappearing right out of the can. Odd.
  • 6:30--1 TBSP of ghee (or "clarified butter".) I had it in my car from stopping at the store earlier, and had just gotten out of yoga. There was some serious I-need-food-now going on and I am not ashamed to admit that I used a broken plastic fork at the bottom of my center console to retrieve the ghee. Desperate times. Then I got home and hammered a banana, a giant Minnesota carrot and 6 oz. of coconut water. 
  • 10:00--A big cup of Healthy Fast tea, a grapefruit (I got the whole peel off in one piece, JUST incase anyone was wondering ;) a bit of raw ginger, 1 tsp ghee, and about 20 drops of a milk thistle tincture.
  • This is just a bullet point where I am going to acknowledge that today was a "fasting" day. As in, it definitely wasn't :P I still ate far less than usual, but I'm not sure I actually got the digestive rest that comes with intermittent fasting. 

Cash Check

$9--Coconut Milk, Ghee, Grapefruit, Bananas

Conditioning

One can see why fainting during a backbend would be an unfortunate occurrence.

One can see why fainting during a backbend would be an unfortunate occurrence.

Bikram.

I say that word with fear and reverence. Last night's 4:30 yoga class probably the hardest I've had. Harder than the double I did a week and a half ago at the END of a fasting day (I did a 4:30 class and immediately a 6:30 class.) Last night was ridiculous. I had to sit out on a lot of the poses, and nearly felt like I was going to faint after the first backbend of the warmup series. 

I've had a similar (though not as intense) experience before. The culprit is absolutely coffee. To drink that much coffee AND fast (kind of) before yoga is a poor choice that results in near-fainting experiences. 

At least now I know for sure! 

Day 2

So… it's actually Day 4. I've been keeping track of my food and exercise, but I've been trying to decide on a format daily posts. I figured it out: 

  • Mental Status: How I feel that day (on a scale of, say… "Walking Dead" to "Superhuman") and any notable changes in my general state of being. I'm definitely expecting a roller coaster as my body goes through sugar withdrawals and other shifts in function. (Whole9Life has a great article on the bumps and struggles to expect.)
  • Nourishment: A recap of what I ate and at what time. As I write articles on different foods in my daily regimen, I'll link the food to its description. 
  • Cash Check: How much I spent on food that day. At the end of this whole thing I want to be able to analyze my spending habits and figure out how to hone in on ways to be more cost effective. 
  • Conditioning: Exercise--what I did, when I did it, and (possibly) why I did that routine at that time.
  • P.S. Concluding thoughts, if any.

Good. I feel much better with that being clarified :) And without further ado, Day 2!

Mental Status

Me :P

Me :P

​It was all so long ago… Honestly. It was day that required alertness while (again) running on less than optimal amounts of sleep. Definitely closer to "walking dead" than "superhuman." I can tell my body is going through some serious purification--it's a weird combination of exhausting and energizing that has me a bit off kilter. For a while it was also really busy at The Barbary Fig (where I'm a server) so collapsing into my warm, happy bed was a wonderful experience.

I'm starting to think that my next post needs to be on sleep. Maybe I can convince myself of its necessity :P

I get my eggs from Prairie Pride Farms at the Farmer's Market in Downtown St. Paul. SO good. See that yolk hiding there? Perfect for dipping sweet potatoes :)&nbsp;

I get my eggs from Prairie Pride Farms at the Farmer's Market in Downtown St. Paul. SO good. See that yolk hiding there? Perfect for dipping sweet potatoes :) 

Nourishment

  • 8:30--Glutathione, 2 TBSP Butter, Gut Elixir--Kombucha, Potato Starch, Lewis Lab Brewer's Yeast
  • 10:00--Exercise (see below)
  • 10:30--1 cup Bone Broth, sweet potato and leeks in coconut oil with 3 eggs in butter, carrot
  • 11:30--Yogi's "Fasting Health" Tea
  • 4:30--Banana w/ coconut oil
  • 5:15--Salad: Kale and cilantro, dulse flakes, coconut vinegar, and sardines in lemon juice and olive oil, a few sips of kombucha
  • 7:00--A couple bites of octopus
  • 9:00--A few slices of leg of lamb over carrot puree with a date in some reduced stock
  • 10:30--2 fillets of pickled herring, raw ginger

Cash Check

HA! Nothing. $0 dollars. 

Conditioning 

After 2 months of an exercise routine consisting almost entirely of 4 to 7 Bikram Yoga sessions a week (a 90 minute yoga practice in a humid room that hovers between 100 and 110 degrees) I'm getting back to incorporating a touch of running and regular Bodyrock workouts. It feels amazing to be doing some intense strength work with a newly aligned and refreshed body!

Now that I'm working other things back in, I'm attempting to do my yoga towards the beginning of my fasting, and Bodyrock HIIT (hyper intense interval training) workouts right before I break the fast when the  Human Growth Hormone (according to what I've read on IntFasting) is at it's highest (according to what I've read on Intermittent Fasting.) I've been taking a glutathione drink-thingy from Ocean Avenue--a company my wonderful Mama has been working with--before doing my Bodyrock, and then having a big protein-rich breakfast right afterwards to maximize the benefits of each session. This was my Saturday HIIT--click on the title for the video:

Fully Stacked Abs

Thank you Lisa for your creative titles <3 Btw, I did modify it a little bit--in place of the last 4 exercises I just did a round of plank jacks (in plank position jumping your feet in and out) to make it 12 minutes instead of 18. 

PS

I'm definitely still finding my rhythm--changing habits is hard, but I'm looking forward to having new habits. Beyond that, even,  I'm hoping to shift my body/inner child's desires from things that have long-term harmful effects to truly having my momentary desires align with what is life-giving. 

…for now I'll have to depend on will power and cyber accountability.

Day 1

I kept trying to put "sleep" add-ons into the title. "SLEEP." "…who needs sleep?" I think I'm trying to tell myself to go to bed, and I will... in a minute. I'm about a third of the way through Your Personal Paleo Code and am enjoying the refresher on Omega 3s and 6s, as well as learning a lot of new info. This book is amazing, btw--it's like a super organized, distilled version of everything that is essential to know about health. Thank you Chris!!

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Basic Run-Down:

  • 8:15--woke up (after going to bed at 3:30…) had a cup of bone broth and my morning coconut vinegar/oregano oil combo (about 3 TBSP vinegar and 4 drops oregano oil in water)
  • Picked up a bottle of kombucha on the way to school and drank half… then added 4 TBSP of raw potato starch and Lewis Lab's Brewer's Yeast. More on that later :)
  • Also picked up Yogi's "Fasting Health" tea and had a few cups at school--and no coffee!! 
  • Spent the afternoon at home (I'll be in all weekend at school) and took a 2 hour nap, then had about 1 TBSP of coconut oil, and…. ummm…. 4ish TBSP of butter. Delicious, pastured, organic, cultured butter. :l There. I said it. I needed energy before work, and was just going to have a bite. And I left it out on the counter--a very intentional move by my subconscious ;) Could be worse!
  • Went to work and then stopped at Mississippi Market to do my grocery shopping for the week on my way home. Snacked on some raw kale and a carrot while putting away groceries :) And maybe a fillet or two of pickled herring. Shhhh….
Definitely&nbsp;science experiment material...

Definitely science experiment material...

Food

  • Bone Broth
  • Coconut Vinegar and Oregano Oil Tonic
  • Kombucha with Potato Starch and Brewer's Yeast
  • Coconut Oil
  • Butter
  • Kale
  • Carrot
  • 1 oz pickled herring

Total Day's Food Spending: $80.21

Bone Broth Beginnings

Just awoke from a 2 hour nap. Staying up until 3 a.m. the night before a fasting day in not a good plan…. but I couldn't just stop in the middle of writing last night!

Anyways. I'm still a touch drowsy, but after a bite of Bubbie's Horseradish I'm not in danger of climbing back into bed. Seriously. Horseradish--more effective than coffee. But horseradish aside, what I really want to focus on is the first thing I had when I got up this morning: 

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Bone Broth

I make a SUPER concentrated batch of it about once a month, and then freeze it in small containers or ice cube trays. The filled cup is pretty self-explanatory (that's my cup of hot broth!) ...and the stuff next to it is supposed to be an example of my bag of frozen broth cubes. Not awkward looking at all.

So… what is it? Basically, I jam-pack my crockpot full of bones, cover it all with water, add a bunch of salt, vinegar, smashed garlic cloves, and quartered onions and let it simmer.

For at least 2 days. 

It has a pretty cool history. Bone broth--or some variation of it--has been an element of almost every traditional society, and with good reason. Dr. Auer writes:

Almost every culture throughout history has used bone broth for its nutritional significance, versatility and overall deliciousness. Chinese medicine practitioners use bone broth to strengthen the kidney, support digestive systems and build blood. The term “Jewish penicillin” is used for chicken soup, known to inhibit cell inflammation and mitigate cold symptoms. And the English sip beef tea, or beef broth, used since the Victorian era.

There's a South American proverb that states: 

Good broth will resurrect the dead.

Bone broth is awesome, and how it works is super interesting. I’m not sure if anyone has done this, but apparently if you soak a chicken bone in vinegar for a day or so, it becomes rubbery and bendable. If Youtube is to be trusted, this is true:

So… what does a bendy chicken bone have to do with your health?

More than you would think. The acidity of the vinegar breaks down elements in the bone that keep it strong: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, etc. But these nutrients can’t just disappear—they’ve gone from the bone into the vinegar. This is the basic principal that bone broth functions on—a transfer of nutrients from the solid bones to the liquid they’re simmering in. Vinegar (I use Bragg’s apple cider vinegar) is an essential ingredient to make this transfer as effective as possible.

So that’s how all that nutrition gets into the broth. What’s REALLY cool though, is that it’s a nearly perfect package of complementary nutrients that allow the wonderful health building elements to actually be absorbed and used by your body. This is important because in spite of America’s incessant need to supplement (according to consumerreports.com Americans spent $26.7 billion on dietary supplements in 2009, with over half of the adult population taking some form of supplementation) people are not well. The 2012 National Healthcare Expenditure (NHE) was nearly $3 trillion.

Our society may be health conscious… but our health doesn't show it.

Take calcium, for example:

A number of studies have come out showing that weak bones aren’t necessarily from a lack of dietary intake of calcium. The following study concludes that bone mass density (BMD) is not affected by dietary intake of calcium, and that calcium supplementation do not decrease hip fracture rates in older women. http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jc.2012-1407 So why are so many people encouraged to supplement?

We know bones are solid because of calcium and other minerals in them. In theory, eating more calcium should promote higher bone mass density. What is often missed, is that it’s not about how much you consume, but how much your body can actually use.

It's absorption, not consumption that counts.

That’s why bone broth is effective. Your body knows how to use it. That being said, let’s look at some of the nutrients in bone broth—it goes way beyond calcium. Phosporus, magnesium, and Vitamin D are just a few of the minerals found in bone broth.

Glycine and Proline

Bone broth also contains the amino acids Glycine and Proline, which The Paleo Mom (scientist turned stay-at-home mom) gives an amazing overview of:

"Glycine and proline are two key components of connective tissue, the biological “glue” that holds our bodies together. There are many types of connective tissue and these two amino acids feature prominently in most of them, from the cartilage that forms our joints to the extracellular matrix that acts as a scaffold for the cells in our individual organs, muscles, arteries etc. Without these two amino acids, we would literally fall apart. So, it is no surprise that we need these two amino acids to heal, not only gaping wounds, but also the microscopic damage done to blood vessels and other tissues in our body caused by inflammation and infection. In fact, glycine is known to inhibit the immune system and reduce activation of inflammatory cells in your body. Whether you are trying to heal from an infection, address an auto-immune disease, or reduce inflammation caused by neolithic foods or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, high levels of dietary glycine are critical. In addition, glycine is required for synthesis of DNA, RNA and many proteins in the body. As such, it plays extensive roles in digestive health, proper functioning of the nervous system and in wound healing. Glycine aids digestion by helping to regulate the synthesis and of bile salts and secretion of gastric acid. It is involved in detoxification and is required for production of glutathione, an important antioxidant. Glycine helps regulate blood sugar levels by controlling gluconeogenesis (the manufacture of glucose from proteins in the liver). Glycine also enhances muscle repair/growth by increasing levels of creatine and regulating Human Growth Hormone secretion from the pituitary gland. This wonderful amino acid is also critical for healthy functioning of the central nervous system. In the brain, it inhibits excitatory neurotransmitters, thus producing a calming effect. Glycine is also converted into the neurotransmitter serine, which promotes mental alertness, improves memory, boosts mood, and reduces stress."

And if you're not thoroughly convinced yet, here's another incredible nutrient in bone broth: 

Collagen (or Gelatin)

Collagens are a large family of biomolecules responsible for keeping your joints healthy… and a ton of other things. When it’s extracted for food it’s called gelatin. This is what makes jello gel, and what makes everything congeal at the bottom of the container when you put left-over chicken it in the fridge. It's also a heavy hitter in the beauty market as an ingredient in facial and lip products. People will do crazy things for beauty, as this article proves: Beauty Products from the Skin of Executed Chinese Prisoners

Collagen is an essential part of us. It comes from the Greek, “Kola” (meaning glue) and is the most common protein in the body (%25.) It's in charge of keeping things together and in place. I mentioned joints above, but ligaments, tendons, skin, nails, hair, cartilage, the gut lining, mucous membranes, blood vessels, intervertebral discs, and even the cornea of the eye owe much of their existence to collagen, and depend on it for proper function and health.

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Food for Thought: Glucosamine as a Supplement

When I was having knee problems from running, I started taking a supplement form of glucosamine. A lot of people know it as a joint health supplement, but glucosamine is just one of the biomolecules that makes up the family of collagens present in bone broth. So is glucosamine in bone broth? Absolutely, but with such a broad spectrum of collagens in bone broth, focusing on the glucosamine is like having someone drop a pile of change in your lap and only wanting the nickels. There’s so much more!

Who should drink it?

  • People who are aging: Body tissues will break down if they’re not replenished by proper nutrition and bone broth will give them exactly what they need where they need them. 
  • Athletes: It’s a fantastic way to prevent joint pain and bone damage (like shin splints or stress fractures) and speed recovery for existing conditions.
  • Individuals who suffer from arthritis: joints and bones become smooth as butter.
  • People with gut/digestive Issues: The gelatin content in bone broth is incredibly beneficial in rebuilding a leaky gut, which is when your gut lining (responsible for letting nutrients pass from your digestive system into your body) has become too permeable and is letting things into your blood stream that aren’t supposed to be there.
  • Cellulite? Drink bone broth! Collagen improves skin elasticity and rebuilds skin's structural integrity. 
  • Anyone who is a live human being.

Note: the list began with people who are aging, and ended with live human beings. Most of us fall into at least one of those categories. And seriously… I've barely scratched the surface of all there is to love about this stuff. If your curiosity is piqued, here are a few trusted sources with great articles for further study: 

I'll be making a delicious batch of bone broth in the next week or two… and a how-to video will definitely be part of that process :)

Love! <3

Update!! Here's the promised video:

Works cited (other than those above): 

I am a Science Experiment

Ideas.

They stay in my head for a long time, rolling over and over. I don't mind--in fact, I rather enjoy them. They entertain me and remind me of all the places my wide-open future might go. And I have to think them before they can be realities, right?

This incessant thinking may be the result of my tendency to consume things--often faster than I can digest and use them. Books, food, podcasts (the app on my iPod is aptly named "Podcruncher") conversations, ideas, art, etc...

Everyone knows that if you consume a lot of food without moving your body in a way that uses the energy, a person will gain weight. An Ironman triathlete can eat 6,000 calories a day and all that energy is used and actually strengthens the athlete. However, even 2,000 calories may be too much for someone on bed rest.

It would make sense that our minds work in a similar way. If we consume too much and produce too little, we get sort of… mentally fat, for lack of a better term. We become happy to consume what other people make without producing our own things to feed other people's minds. Something about that seems unhealthy--a leech-like existence. As a curious person who enjoys mentally consuming, I may have a responsibility to create. If I'm going to "eat" this much, I need to "work out" more!

What happens if I don't, though? What happens if I learn and learn and learn, and do nothing with my learning?

Well… the first person who misses out, is me. Knowing running is good for me doesn't give me the benefits of running. Running gives me the benefits of running.

I have plenty of good thoughts and ideas, but good ideas are common. What's hard to find is people who do good ideas. Posting on Facebook about your great novel idea requires a lot less effort than actually writing the thing.

Thinking about doing things is easy, but writing a story is hard. Working out is hard. Painting a picture is hard. Starting a business is hard.

Doesn't matter if it's mental or physical. Doing things is hard. 

So… if one is to consume, one must be a do-er. But there's more.  All this learning means a person probably has a good idea of what they should be doing, and there is very serious danger in knowing what to do and not doing it. In fact, if that mind/body chasm becomes habit, it's worse than if we simply didn't know what to do.

That's kind of a weird statement, but hang for just a minute. If we allow this chasm to go unchallenged and unchanged, our bodies and emotions learn to ignore our minds as a habit. We loose the ability to choose our own behavior. We teach our physical bodies--the only thing that can actually carry out our ideas and make us an effective force in the world--to ignore reason and pretend actions don't have consequences. We're denying the cause-and-effect set up of the world we live in.

Everything in my body screams, "NO!" when my mind attempts to reason for a positive change. The screaming child (that is so often my body) wins and my exhausted brain-parent gives up and gives in. And the more I learn about what I should be doing without doing it… the more times my mind looses the fight.

Children learn. When they learn that enough screaming gets them what they think they want, they will scream. Emotional children are beyond reason, and the body that has learned to ignore the brain is a child who has learned to scream with a parent who only knows how to succumb.

And so we teach ourselves to be rebellious.

I know what the consequences of eating right before yoga are, and sometimes I do it anyways. My body has learned indifference--the teenager that simply says "I don't care." I know that pulling out my credit card to spend $40 dollars on food for one day is not something I can afford and I will have to pay it. But I'm acting like I won't. (And those are really lame, mild examples because I'm not quite ready to make my predominant struggles public. Yet.) What I know and how I act are in direct opposition. I'm actively sabotaging myself. I'm practicing lying to myself with my actions. And just like lying to other people, it gets easier and easier. It becomes the default. The habit. 

This whole dilemma is hard for me to make peace with, and leads me to believe that curiosity and mind-growth may come with a price: create and act, or numb yourself into rebellion and fragmentation.

That being said, I am going to create something I think is valuable and worthwhile, that gently coaxes my body into unity with my mind:

I am going to be my own lab rat and commit to putting all my best ideas about healthy eating into practice for 30 days, and also create a record of the journey. I want to do and not just think.


So… here it goes. January 17th until February 16th.

  • Intermittent Fasting--currently every other day, but may shift if that becomes unsustainable or as I learn more about effectively doing it.

  • Following the Reset Diet given in Chris Kresser's book "Your Perfect Paleo Code." This guy is amazing--I've been following his work for about two and a half years and he's seriously got the most balanced approach to food and lifestyle. He practices what he calls "Functional Medicine" taking the best of BOTH conventional medicine and alternative approaches. Exceptions: butter and my glutathione supplement.

  • Testing my Gut microbiome! My friend Lynn (my comrade in health curiousity) and I are going to be taking part in the "American Gut Project".

  • Getting a mix of Bikram (Hot) Yoga, Bodyrocking, and Running

  • Making sleep a priority--between 7 and 9 hours a night. (And as I get into a rythm I'm hoping I'll depend less on my alarm clock!)

  • Shifting my bodycare to natural food-based remedies

Specific thing I'm expecting to happen include:

  • Losing about 8 to 10 pounds (no… I don't think I'm fat. I just feel better at 128 than at 138.)

  • Cleared up skin. It makes me self-conscious and I don't like being self-conscious. I also have to imagine bad skin is distracting. I want people to be able focus on what I'm saying instead of the zit I destroyed. I also have some killer before pictures and I would like to take after pictures at some point :P

  • Feeling like a superhero... and charging up to train with my sister-friend Jessica and her Dad for the Whistlestop half marathon next fall.

  • (Caution: the following statement contains male-sensitive material.) A regular period. I've had a very irregular (and often nearly non-existant) period ever since losing 25 pounds in a fairly short window of time 2 years ago. I haven't had it at all for almost the past 9 months and I'm pretty sure I haven't been growing a baby. This is actually already being fixed, because I've been doing the Intermittent fasting for two weeks now... and after my first day of fasting it showed up for 5 whole days! I have no idea how to explain that, but I'm fricking excited.

  • Learning and condensing. There are some books I've been wanting to read and this is the perfect opportunity to read them and share what I'm learning! I'll keep an ongoing book list, and post on whatever I'm discovering as I go.

I am a the Scientist and the Experiment. Frankenstein... and his monster :)