Day One Hundred nineteen

An apple and a brown rice cake for breakfast,

Grilled round steak and a blueberry mango smoothie for lunch.

Went to Pita Pita for dinner. I had gyro meat over rice with greek salad and dolmas. It was so good I almost forget to take a picture.

Day One Hundred Eighteen

I had a very emotional day today, but the dam finally burst and I was able to let go and have a deep cleansing cry.

Breakfast was a brown rice cake and an apple.

I wish I had taken a picture of lunch, it was beautiful. I sliced and grilled a zucchini, a small round steak, and had some roasted butternut squash.

Finally for dinner, I had a grilled pork chop, some kale and cabbage slaw with cranberries and pepitas, and some maple ginger carrots.

Day One Hundred Seventeen

Today I'm starting to feel the effects of the grief and stress. I have some inflammation and low grade itching. I'm trying to be careful to keep it under control, but my diet hasn't been the best either -- although still extremely healthy, I've just been eating things I haven't reintroduced properly and so I'm not sure if it's just the stress or if I'm reacting to something I'm eating. At the same time, I'm still steering clear of processed foods, soy, and gluten. I may need to go back to the basics and go through reintroductions again, but not until I'm settled into the new job and the level of stress has abated.

Today for breakfast, I had an apple, some sunbutter, and a piece of fig & almond bar (the ingredients are simply fig and almond).  For lunch I had a lamb steak with garlic chive spread, and roasted butternut squash with cinnamon spread.

Tonight we didn't get home until almost 9:00, so instead of cooking we just stopped at Chipotle. I had a salad bowl with lettuce, cilantro lime rice, and carnitas. I did drizzle just a touch of the dressing over it for flavor.

Day One Hundred Sixteen

Had a sinus headache all day. Feel like I'm fighting a sinus infection. Been using my colloidal silver spray and plan to do a sinus flush tomorrow.

This morning I made a smoothie with mangoes, blueberries, and apple juice. For lunch I had roasted turkey with a bit of cranberry wrapped in lettuce with sweet potato fries. Before dinner we stopped at Whole Foods and I picked up a burger patty with bacon and some quinoa with asparagus. I popped the burger on the grill along with some sliced zucchini and voila` dinner was done and delicious.

Day One Hundred Fourteen

For brunch today I made paleo pancakes with turkey sausage. I don't know what culinary genius figured out that mixing banana with egg came out tasting like pancakes, but they deserve an award.

This afternoon my mom called to tell me my grandmother isn't doing well. My grandmother and I are very very close, and it's been so hard to be so far away. She has alzheimer's. I called her on a Sunday afternoon a couple weeks ago, and she didn't know me. That was the hardest. But I called her back early the next morning, and she did know and told me she loves me. That was the last time I talked to her. I tried to call her yesterday, but she refused to get up and come to the phone. She has stopped eating or drinking and just sleeps all day. She has signed a DNR order. They don't expect her to last the week. I'm very depressed because there is no way I can go back east to be with her. Thankfully I went back last year while she was still alert and aware and spent time with her. 

For dinner, I sliced up some purple sweet potatoes and tossed them with sea salt, garlic, and olive oil and put them in the oven. Then I mixed some artichoke hearts with lemon juice and dipped chicken strips in it before putting them in a baking dish. I sprinkled them with salt and garlic and then scooped out the artichoke hearts and put them over the chicken before putting that in the oven as well. Finally I cut up some broccoli and put it in a baking dish and sprinkled a tiny bit of the lemon juice over that as well before putting in the oven with the other. Once all three were baking (at 400f) I set the timer for 30 minutes. Everything got done at once and it all tasted great. I seem to be doing ok with the lemon juice so far.

Day One Hundred Thirteen

I woke up sneezing this morning and a bit achy in my knees and ankles. I think I've been pushing the boundaries a little too much lately. So for brunch, I stuck with the basics, one poached egg, 2 slices of bacon, and a cup of fresh raspberries. I did have half a cup of coffee with almond milk and maple syrup.

Then for dinner, I used the bacon grease from breakfast to sautee some cabbage with sea salt and garlic. I boiled some rutabaga and mashed it with garlic chive spread and mixed it into the cabbage with some chicken strips. Basically it was colcannon with chicken. It was really good, though I do have some tinnitus happening. I've seen rutabagas on the list for high oxalates, but I've also seen them on the list for low oxalates -- I think I have to consider them on the list for high oxalates for myself and be very sparing with them. It sucks because those and sweet potatoes are my go to starches. I guess I'm gonna have to stick with acorn squash and butternut squash for the time being and consider rutabagas and sweet potatoes a once in a while treat.

Day One Hundred Twelve

Last night about 10:00 I could not keep my eyes open another minute. I went to bed early (for me), then I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. I was hot and stuffy, so I turned on the ac, then I was cold. I finally fell asleep again at about 5 am, only to have the alarm go off at 6. But I felt surprisingly good today, in spite of the interrupted sleep, although I've had tinnitus again all day. Maybe the sweet potato.

On the upside, I got my lab results back today, and the oxalate crystals that were high just two weeks ago are completely normal now. I didn't cut them out, I merely cut back to a more moderate intake level.

I had a vega one shake for breakfast, left over chicken, sweet potato, and cole slaw for lunch. 

For dinner I made meatzza. I used grass fed ground beef mixed with uncured bacon for the crust. I topped it with garlic chive spread, fresh basil, fresh cilantro, garlic, olives, pimentos, and just a bit of fresh goat cheese.