Cooked Food..... Once Again #17

Being so beautifully spring-like here on the Island, I've decided to not go back to Montreal (and the cold and snow). Consequently, I've been busy looking for new accommodations. Being able to eat cooked food certainly simplifies things while I'm out on the road.

Last week, I ran out of the bowel cleanser and chlorophyl products the naturopath prescribed. There's been a delay in their arrival, so I've been doing without this past week.

For the past couple of months I've been having this pain, a dull aching, in the middle of my back between my shoulder blades. It usually makes an appearance up in the evening, although some days it starts in the afternoon. Not sure what it's about. Whatever the reason, I just realized that for the most part this past week it hasn't shown up -and I'm definitely OK with that. I'm hoping it stays that way.

It's amazing to watch how quickly the weight goes back on every time I go start eating cooked food. In my situation, and there's lots of other anecdotal information, to suggest raw food is a great way to lose excess weight. I highly recommend it.

The stats for this past week #17:

                             02/21/10             02/28/10           Change

Weight              122.9 lbs.               126.5                   +3.6 lbs.
Definitely going in the other direction now! Almost a 4 pound gain this week. The weight gain feels good, but mostly I'm happy that the weight loss has stopped.

Body Fat           13.3 lbs.                 15.7                    +2.4 lbs.

The majority of this week's weight gain is fat.

BMI                     19.3                       19.9                     -0.1

A reflection of the weight.

Body Fat           10.8%                     11.4                     -%       

Same as above but as a percentage.

Water                65.1%                     64.0                     -1.1%

The first big drop since we began. Not unexpected as I've been "on the road" a lot more, which makes it more difficult for me to notice my thirst in the first place, and then more difficult to address it.

Bone Mass        6.3%                       6.4                       +0.1

The first time it has gone up since we started. Well see if it holds at this level again next week.

My Favourite Recipe (so far)

I've never been much of a cook. Truth be told, until recently my attitude toward cooking has been one of disinterest, a kind of necessary evil -best avoided if possible; tolerated when not. 

My raw food experience over the past few months has changed that. There are times when I actually get into the groove and find myself enjoying the process, the planning, the experimentation, the presentation, etc. 

It's when I get caught up in the other aspects of life, when I start feeling like there's too many things on my plate, that I fall back into my old attitude. That's when preparing a favourite recipe is called for. It's a motivator, beckoning me to get out of my rut and into a better frame of mind.  

Here's my favourite recipe (so far):

Cauliflower Salad Recipe
Preparation time: 25-30 minutes.
Serves 8-10.

Ingredients:
4 cups of raw sliced cauliflower.
1 cup of coarsely chopped black olives.
1/2 cup of chopped green pepper.
1/4 cup of chopped red pepper.
1/2 cup of chopped or sliced red onion.

Dressing:
1/4 cup of vegetable oil.
3 tablespoons lemon juice.
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.
1 teaspoon of sea salt (or dulse).
1/4 cup of raw honey.

Instructions: 

• Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. 
• In another bowl, whip together the dressing ingredients.  
• Pout the dressing over the salad ingredients and toss to coat.  
• Refrigerate until serving time.  
• Correct seasoning before serving.

 In keeping with an earlier posting about serving half one day and half the next, I add a cup of peas to the second day's serving to add a bit of variety, color and texture.

Note: I've made a few changes to the ingredients of the original recipe to make it healthier. If you'd like to work from the original, and to give credit where credit is due, here's the original recipe.
Bon appetit.

Color me Twiggy #16

A while back I had to buy a new belt to account for my weight loss.

This past week I had to buy another new, smaller, belt and smaller pair of jeans. What surprised me the most, besides getting the jeans at a remarkable sale price, was that I got them in the boys department. A size 20, whatever that is. That hasn't happened since way back when my mother did the shopping!

The TCM doctor said I had lost some muscle mass and I agree. Given the circumstances, I was prepared to do that, but only to a point. After consulting with the team, I've decided to bring in some cooked food to slow down the cleansing process.

Even though I'm quite thin, even too thin, I feel pretty good. That's why I'm continuing with this process. In hindsight it might have been wiser to bring in some cooked food sooner -but that's hindsight for you.

I feel good about the weight loss so far and my decision to slow the process down. I've been on this journey 17 years now. A few more months isn't going to make much difference.

The stats for this past week:

                                02/14/10           02/21/10            Change

Weight              123.6 lbs.               122.9                   -0.7 lbs.
(Actually, I was at an all time low of 121.7 lbs at one point this week.) Definitely feels low.

Body Fat           14.1 lbs.                 13.4                    -0.7 lbs.

100% of the loss is body fat.

BMI                     19.4                       19.3                     -0.1

A reflection of the weight.

Body Fat           11.4%                     10.8                     -0.6%       

Same as above but as a percentage.

Water                64.7%                     65.1                     +0.4%

Still going in the right direction.

Bone Mass        6.3%                        6.3                        No Change.

A bit below normal, but acceptable in the short run.

When is an apple, an (organic) apple?

Have you ever been in the produce department, and it's not clear from the signage whether what you're looking at is organic or not? It happens to me from time to time. Not a life threatening situation, but annoying at times, particularly if I'm in a rush.

Most produce these days comes with little sticky tags that have a product code. The checkout clerks sometimes key in these numbers to identify the product.

It turns out that the numbers on the tags typically come in two flavors: 4 and 5 digits. The 5 digit numbers signify organic produce.

A good thing to keep in mind when it's not clear whether the apple you're looking at is indeed the pesticide-free version.

A Two For One Special #15

I'm not really aware of how I got to into this routine. It was a learning process, more of a series of adjustments than an intentional, thought-out process.

What seems to be working for me these days is to make a double size salad and set half the ingredients and dressing aside for the following day (that way they don't go soggy). I eat the first portion that same day; the following day, the remainder just needs a bit of tossing and it's ready to go.

Eventually, I get ambitious and create a second salad (doubling up on this one as well).  Even though I've only made up the one salad that night, I get to eat two different salads as a result -today's and the already prepared one from the previous day. 

Ideally, one is a leafy green salad, and the other a cabbage, etc. This approach gives me a some variety in vegetables and textures and makes eating raw more interesting and fun.

There's another advantage to doubling up on the recipe. Say I've had a tough day and I come home and just don't feel like I have the energy to "cook". No problem. I just open the fridge, and the extra portion from yesterday is already there, waiting to be tossed.

Granted at some point I'm going to have to put in the extra effort to get ahead once again, but at least this way I got through the energy crunch and avoided the urge to eat processed food just because it's easy.

If you've got a raw food or handy kitchen tip you'd like to share, just drop me a line.

The stats for this past week:

                             02/07/10             02/14/10           Change

Weight              125.5 lbs.               123.6                   -1.9 lbs.
My weight gain of last week was short lived. I dropped another couple of pounds this week.

Body Fat           15.1 lbs.                 14.1                    -1.0 lbs.

Once again, half the loss is body fat, although I'm stumped as to where it's coming from!

BMI                     19.7                       19.4                     -0.3

A reflection of the weight.

Body Fat           12.0%                     11.4                     -0.6%       

Same as above but as a percentage.

Water                64.3%                     64.7                     +0.4%

Heading in the right direction.

Bone Mass        6.3%                       6.3                        No Change.

A bit below normal, but acceptable in the short run.

This is What Confucius Would Say.

On the recommendation of the doctor I saw a few days ago, (refer to previous posting), I picked up, "Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition," 3rd. edition, by Paul Pitchford. It's huge, and from what I can see does a very good and thorough job of looking at the subject of nutrition. 

For now I'm going to stick with the raw food approach. Within this domain, however, I can also concentrate on foods this book recommends for people with dampness related issues:

• Carbohydrate-rich veggies like carrots, parsnips, turnip, garbanzo beans, black beans, sweet potato, peas, yams and pumpkin....   
• Pungent vegetables and spices like onion, leek, (dried) ginger, cinnamon, fennel, garlic and nutmeg.... cherries and dates....    
• According to TCM, other foods that dry dampness are: rye, amaranth, corn, aduki beans, celery, lettuce, alfalfa, kohlrabi, raw honey and all bitter herbs, like chaparral as well as chamomille.

The doctor also suggested I start by reading the section on the Earth Element which is related to the Late Summer season. (Rightly or wrongly, I take that to be the equivalent of our Indian Summer.)

• Recommended foods for people of this type are mildly sweet or yellow or gold in colour, such as: millet, corn, carrots, tofu, rice, sweet rice, chestnuts, filberts, apricots and cantaloupe.  

It is a time of transition and dishes should be simple and everything, preparation to presentation, needs to done in moderation.

That leaves me with a fair bit to work with -and think about.

What would Confucius Say?

Back in October, just before I embarked on this raw food experience, I had some blood work done. One of the tests showed the amount of inflammation in my system. I was thinking that, more than 3 months into this process it would be good to see if the inflammation had gone down any.

Note: An acidic environment leads to inflammation. A raw food diet, which is basically akaline,  should lessen the acidity in my body and therefore the inflammation as well.

Back in October, 2009 my blood work result was 935. 
Normal is less than 120.
In February, 2010 (using a muscle test) my "reading" was ((correction) 545,
which suggests that the raw food diet is quite effective. 
(If your not into behavioral kinesiology, i.e. muscle testing, I will be getting the regular blood work done once I get back to Edmonton in April and we'll be able to compare apples to apples.)

I met with an MD, whose has decided to pursue Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) full time.  She was very helpful and explained that TCM has a very different philosophy from Western medicine. This modality sees things in terms of various concepts such as chi; the Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water; excess and deficiency; cooling and warming foods; dampness, or heat..... 

She said that I was damp and that I should be eating more cooked food (for the heat), and lots of grains, which are a condensed form of food, (that have more heat qualities.) I was confused as this is virtually the opposite of what my current health practitioner was advising.

With some exasperation, I shared that information with my sister. It turns out that my naturopath studied TCM for 3 years and agreed with the doctor's assessment of my condition. His point was that it boiled down to a question of priorities, and dealing with the cancer is the priority at this time.  

In the short term, getting my body to an alkaline state trumped dealing with dampness, because cancer can't live in an alkaline environment. Because most grains are acidic, he suggested avoiding them. Once the cancer is gone, then modifying my diet to deal with the dampness would be an option to consider. 

Makes sense to me.

Overall, I'm glad I got a second opinion. There's no doubt that getting advice is diametrically opposed can be frustrating. The trick is to see beyond the language (and baggage) of each modality, and try to make sense of what is being said. 

Not easy. Certainly it takes time and effort, and the willingness to deal with ambiguity. Most of all it takes a certain level of confidence in whatever decision one makes, balanced with a willingness to remain open minded about any new information that may come along.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it -until something that makes more sense comes along.

Week Fourteen Summary

Being on a 100% raw food diet for 14 weeks has been an interesting journey. It continues to be.

In that time I've lost almost 40 pounds of excess fat and, in the words of my naturopath,  "tissue that doesn't contribute to my well-being." Although I'm the first one to admit that I'm a little on the thin side at the moment, it does feel good to not be carrying any extra weight.

Somehow this body reality is also affecting my emotional reality. What thoughts, beliefs, ideas, am I carrying that "don't contribute to my well-being?" I suspect there are quite a few.

For some time now, I've been thinking about a course called Psych-K. (Basically, it utilizes muscle testing to look at eight or so areas of one's life and corresponding beliefs.) As providence would have it, it is being offered here on the outskirts of Victoria this coming weekend. I registered this afternoon. We'll see how much "weight," read baggage, I can lose.

I've also noticed that my weight loss and the feeling of being lean is making its presence felt in the area of material possessions as well. Some time ago, circumstances provided me the opportunity to radically pare down what I owned. What little I didn't need on a daily basis, I stored in my brother's basement.  (Thanks bro.)

It's not that much really, but I'm feeling the need to go through what's left and let go of whatever "doesn't contribute to my well-being" anymore.  I'm looking forward to seeing how much stuff I can eliminate and -more importantly- how little I really need. A couple of months in Montreal, and almost that long here in Victoria, has shown me that it is surprisingly little.

A little "spring cleaning" seems to be in order.

The stats for this past week:

                             01/31/10             02/07/10           Change

Weight              124.9 lbs.               125.5                   +0.6 lbs.
The first increase in weight since I began in late October. It might be an anomaly or a sign that I've bottomed out on the weight loss. Either way the coming weeks should tell the tale.

Body Fat           14.7 lbs.                 15.1                    +0.4 lbs.

Interestingly, this modest increase in weight is mostly fat. My diet hasn't changed a lot, so I'm curious about where the fat is coming from.

BMI                     19.6                       19.7                     -0.4

A reflection of the weight.

Body Fat           11.8%                     12.0                     -1.0%       

Same as above but as a percentage.

Water                64.4%                     64.3                     -0.1%

Virtually unchanged.

Bone Mass        6.3%                       6.3                        No Change.

A bit below normal, but acceptable in the short run.

ReBar Restaurant

Yesterday a few friends, mostly from Edmonton, decided to get together for a visit. We met for supper at the Rebar Modern Food Restaurant, a funky, unpretentious, restaurant with great service and fabulous fresh food that caters to the health conscious crowd.

It's located at 50 Bastion Street, in the heart of downtown Victoria between Wharf and Government Street. My friends quite enjoyed the atmosphere, service and food. If you're ever in the neighborhood, it's certainly worth a visit. There isn't much to indicate the restaurant, other than the lineups at meal times, so come early.

Given my all time low weight, I decided that this was an excellent time to take my naturopath's counsel that cooked food from time to time would be fine. 

I went with the Monk's Curry, a bowl of oyster mushrooms, Japanese eggplant, greens, red potato, organic tofu, scallions and fresh herbs, wok-fried in a homemade green curry-coconut sauce served on organic brown rice. It even sounds good. I savoured every morsel.

I'm not sure if it was the meal or not, but for the next two days my stomach felt a little tender and I was significantly more tired than usual. Given my 3 months on raw food, the cooked food -although delicious and nutritious enough- may have been too much of a good thing. 

(Since then I've spoken to my sister whose studying to be a naturopath and she agreed. She also pointed out that when the naturopath suggested a bit of cooked food, he meant the same greens I'm eating now, lightly steamed -not carbohydrates like potatoes or rice.)

Ya learn something every day!