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Category Archives: Optimal Health


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90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 5 Reformer

Ever since the juice fast I feel like I’m on the outside of the American food experience looking in, realizing how very unhealthy the typical US diet is and how oblivious everyone is to what they are putting into their bodies and the effect it has on wellness.

I also feel like someone who has quit smoking and is on a crusade to reform everyone they know who smokes.  So, I promise to record my own experiences and not to get up on the soap box preaching reform to all of you who don’t give a darn.   But I just have to say one thing.  It is difficult to order an entrée in an American restaurant that is not meat-based and slathered in cheese.


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Vegetarian Adventure Day 3 Potato Chips

A word for anyone who wants to transform their eating habits, keep the junk food out of the house!  I wanted Potato Chips with my veggie burger this evening but there weren’t any in the house so I had steamed green beans and rice instead.  If chips had been here I would have eaten more than I really wanted and felt the grease at the back of my throat and the unnatural thirst from too much salt.  Now I feel satisfied and glad that the junk is out of the house!


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90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 2 – Eating Out

Today I worked with my husband in the Rockville area and found the most wonderful restaurant for lunch.  We decided that with the Vegan Adventure, eating in a typical American restaurant would be meat based for the most part and high in fat.  So, we stopped at a Mediterranean hole-in-the-wall that advertised falafel.  The vegetarian falafel was just what I wanted.  The vegetables and falafel were wrapped in fresh, homemade bread with a delicious yogurt sauce on the side.  I also ordered some Persian Rice Pudding which was made with saffron and rose-water.  For those of you who work in the Rockville area, the name of the restaurant is Mediterranean House of Kabob located at the White Flint Station Center.

Lesson Learned:  I love working with my husband, and when looking for good vegetarian food try Mediterranean.


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90 Day Vegetarian Adventure Day 1 – For the Diet Junkies

Today, August 9th, is the first day of my new Vegetarian Adventure.  With the 15 day reboot over, my palate is cleansed and I feel a clear connection with my body, free of compulsion.  That’s big for me.  Yesterday was the last day of the Reboot and when I could choose foods other than, fruits, and vegetables, I really wanted a bagel and Swiss cheese.   So I gave in to the craving and it tasted great.  Now I’m ready to begin the 90 Day Vegan Adventure without the distraction of  that particular craving.

My plan is to eliminate dairy, except for yogurt, and all animal meat from my diet.  Basically, to eat the way I imagine the first people on earth ate in the Garden of Eden.  I think our bodies were originally designed to repair themselves based on that type of diet.  Dr. Duke Johnson agrees with me in his book entitled, Optimal Health.  More about this subject later this week.

You see, diets do not work.  Eventually, we aren’t listening to what our bodies and emotions really want and they become a form of deprivation.  There is a good series that I recommend you read by Geneen Roth.  The books are entitled, Breaking Free From Compulsive Eating and Why Weight. (See Library heading on this blog)   If you have been a diet junkie, going from diet to diet, losing weight and gaining it back plus more, these books are for you.  They advise you to break free from the diet cycle and begin to listen to your body which may take the best part of a year.  During the break free year I followed her advice: eating exactly what I wanted when I was hungry;  stopping when I was full; along with a few other simple behavioral changes.  I gained about 10 pounds and learned to take care of myself while listening to my body.

Then, I highly recommend some sort of fast to cleanse your body and clear your palate.  The Juice Reboot recommended by the Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead Documentary  and website worked for me. The cleansing is essential because you need to break free from unhealthy addictions and habits. However, the first thing you must do before starting any change in your eating or exercise habits is to consult a physician, especially if you have a chronic health condition and/or are taking medication on a regular basis.

Tomorrow I will continue this theme with more suggestions for your library and a word about supplements.  The goal is to change habits resulting in a healthier lifestyle and all of the advice in this blog will be based on personal research and experience.  So, I hope you will continue to follow me on this vegetarian adventure.


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Reboot is over, now for the hard part.

Day 15 @ 3pm I declare the 15 day fast complete. Now for the hard part. Transforming my diet to basically vegan. The journey continues. I will be posting the experience plus some of my favorite recipes. Also, anyone who wants to join me and do a 15 day reboot, I’m available for support. Send me a comment, and I will keep it confidential if requested.


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August 7 Reboot Day 14 Almost Thru

Almost thru the juice, fruits and vegetables fast.  Today I broke the fast by eating something sugary, a dessert that I used to love.  Now it tastes way too sweet, so I didn’t enjoy it.  I also ate something I have craved for three days.  I’ve found that when a craving is that strong, I give in to it.  It was a bagel with an ounce of swiss cheese.  Tasted delicious and I was satisfied for the rest of the evening.

Tomorrow will be a day of juicing and fruits and vegetables again.  I’m realizing that my choices are what my body needs and I prefer fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and non-caffeinated teas.  So many foods don’t appeal to me anymore.  This is where I want to stay and I’m afraid that after tomorrow I will be lured back into my old ways of relating to food.  Never thought I would be able to stay the course for 15 days.  This has been an amazing journey and it’s just begun.


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August 6 Reboot Day 12 and 13 A Night Out.

Missing Day 12 will be added in to Day 13 because I went out with my hubby last nite to Chipotle and a movie.  Dinner was great because I was able to order all fresh vegetables and guacamole.  Shared some chips with my date and they weren’t on the fast but they tasted amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed them.  Everyone at the movies was munching popcorn and had oversize cups of soda.  Once the movie started I didn’t even notice that we weren’t snacking along with the crowd.  I thoroughly enjoyed our evening out and instead of focusing on food I was able to give my full attention to the special man in my life, my husband.

Day 12 has been a day of exercise, walked two miles with a knee brace and a day of preserving peaches and tomatoes.  The fresh peaches from Cavetown set me to wondering about what they were like in the Garden of Eden.  I’ll bet they were a favorite of Adam and Eve too.


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August 4 Reboot Day 11 The Home Stretch

The last 5 days of the reboot are considered the home stretch.  I’m incorporating more steamed and baked vegetables instead of juicing everything and have added nuts, fresh pineapple and tofu today.  Still not eating meat, dairy, refined flour or sugar.  Also, very little whole grains though a limited quantity of brown rice was part of dinner last night with beans. I’m still juicing during the day and adding in the chewable foods in the evening.

The miracle is that I want to eat this way, it’s not just a diet that I can’t wait to finish so I can get back to burgers and fries.   I even went shopping for fresh veggies and fruit at the grocery store.  A trip I’ve been dreading due to half of the store set up for impulse eating.  Actually I didn’t like the smell of the restaurant and deli sections so I bought whole wheat buns and got out of there. The rest of the trip was fine, I didn’t splurge on anything unhealthy.  What a relief, I wasn’t even tempted.  I can do this!


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August 3 Reboot Day 10 The Nitty Gritty

Now it’s down to the nitty-gritty.  Paying bills, juggling schedules, babysitting, fatigue, frustration, are all of the everyday events that used to send me to the freezer for ice cream or to the local fast food place for french fries.  How do you handle the challenges of living without relying on the numbing effect of food?  I welcome your suggestions and comments.