It's about time!

Gah. Sorry guys. Here we are in September and I haven't even finished telling you about the Liver Detox we did in July. Such is life at the moment.

The detox went really well. We both had some aches and pains but they resolved and we both had loads of energy, slept really well, and felt generally healthier and more alert. We eased back in to dairy, gluten (me) and meat over about two weeks.

Then, around three weeks ago our 5 year old son woke in the night vomiting. I stayed with him and rubbed his back as he threw up over and over again. If you're a parent you'll know that awful hopeless feeling when you can't take the bad stuff away no matter how much you want to. Vomiting bugs are the worst. Three days later my husband caught the bug. 24 hours after him, I had it. Then 24 hours later our 9 year old daughter caught it. Oh, the fun. We'd just bought a new front loader washing machine and I've never been so thankful for an appliance purchase in my life.

We all gradually recovered except that we continue to have digestion issues and three out of four of us can't tolerate any dairy foods. One of those three is our wee boy, who already has coeliac disease and a severe egg allergy. The other day he looked up from his drawing and said, "Mum, there's nothing left I can eat". It feels that way sometimes.

In other news, I've been madly planning an upcoming Star Wars themed birthday party. I'll update you on that after the big day on Oct 6th. Having grown up in a house full of females who are definitely not interested in science fiction, I was a bit out of the loop with the whole Star Wars thing. I've had a great time on Pinterest (where there are a scary number of "Star Wars Wedding" boards - really??) and also watching the original movies with the family. I now know my Chewie from my Yoda and which colour light sabers the good guys should have.

So on top of tummy bugs, and party planning (with costumes required) there has been a week of school performances (with more costumes needed). It's been a busy old time.

I hope to update this blog a little more frequently now that I've gotten more used to balancing working part time, mummy stuff, and craftiness. I've been inspired lately, and have spotted a few good finds like these rubber stamps that I picked up for $10 at Lawson Magpie Markets last Sunday. I'm already planning some cool things to make with these.

Happy Crafting everyone!

Becs

Liver Detox - Day 6

So we're on day 6! I didn't get time to write an update for days 4 and 5 but here are some of the meals we've been eating:

Breakfast: non wheat bread and nut butter; blueberry smoothies; porridge; super muesli
Morning tea: avocado; nuts; fruit;juice
Lunch: soups; non wheat bread with avocado and trout; salads with chickpeas and beans
Afternoon tea: juices/smoothies; nuts; fruit
Dinner: red peppers stuffed with brown rice, mushrooms, and eggplant; warm quinoa salad with roasted vegetables

We both still have some joint pain although it's definitely easing. I've been doing some research on it and apparently it's a common symptom of cutting out wheat/dairy/sugar and all processed foods. The theory is that the body has a "to do" list of things to heal and when you have toxins and digestive issues your body will work on them first because they're the most urgent. That means all of the other things will get bumped further down the list. Now that we're eating really well our bodies are going to work on all of the little niggly injuries and issues that have been sitting for a while. The pain is nerve stimulation and the tightness and stiffness is a release of toxins. I guess that explains the odd places that I've been hurting - my right thumb (old RSI injury), my bad hip, and lower back. Mr J has been hurting in all of his sore spots too!

To help with the pain I've been doing some gentle yoga and last night I had an Epsom Salts bath which really helped.

I've been sleeping so deeply which has been amazing. As a lifelong insomniac I don't think I have ever slept this well. I'm waking up refreshed and ready to get up and get going. I no longer feel tired in the afternoons and evenings and I haven't had a headache since the beginning of the detox.

Something I read said that we should continue until it's been 2 days since our last negative symptom. I'm happy to do that, I'm really loving the variety and taste of the food so I'm happy to keep it up!

Liver Detox - Day 3

Well, what can I say except ouch. Both Mr J and I are really, really sore. It's the weirdest thing - we eat well normally so I don't understand how this detox could cause such strong symptoms. Our backs are aching, when we move we have sharp pains deep in our bones. According to Dr Google this is normal and is a positive sign - but sheesh. It hurts.

Today we had cinnamon and fruit porridge (oats for me, quinoa flakes for Mr J). For lunch we had rye/GF toast with an eggplant and borlotti bean dip and some leftover sweet potato and coconut soup. Dinner was a wild rice mix with an olive and greens tapenade mixed through and some charred brussel sprouts, mushroom and eggplant on top. Dessert was stewed apple and blueberries with a "crumble" made from toasted quinoa flakes, flaked almonds and coconut. On the side we had homemade coconut and raspberry ice cream (it's just coconut solids and raspberries so no sugar).

Food was yummy, but I'm finding that I am craving salt. I'm more of a salt girl that a sugar girl so that's not too surprising. Headaches have gone now and I'm sleeping well. If these joint pains went away I'd be feeling fantastic.

I'm really used to rooibos tea now and I'm not sure if I'll go back to regular - I'm sleeping so much better without the caffeine.

Liver Detox - Day 2

Today went well food-wise but I'm sore all over. I don't know why or how, but my bones hurt. The worst by far is my bad hip/pelvis which is aching so badly I'm shuffling along like a 90 year old woman. Not cool. Hopefully tomorrow things will calm down.

Today we had vegan wheat-free french toast using ground flaxseed and water to make an egg-like gel. Mixed with almond milk and cinnamon it made a really nice french toast batter. We had peaches, cherries and blueberries on top with some seed mix. Lunch was steamed fish with roasted sweet potato and fennel, and some mixed super greens. Afternoon tea was pumpernickel bread with avocado and a vitamin drink (GF bread for Mr J). Dinner was a coconut, sweet potato and carrot soup with pumpernickel on the side. 

The food has been great so far. Having a cooked meal for lunch was a nice change. Apart from the soreness I'm feeling really good - I'm waking up early feeling ready to get up (trust me, this doesn't usually happen) and my insomnia seems to have taken a hike. 

Liver Detox - Day 1

Day 1 today! Mr J is less than enthused. By 8am he was missing his morning coffee and it went downhill from there.

I, however, am feeling mighty fine. I still have my headache (4 days now!) but otherwise I feel really good.  Hopefully my other half picks up tomorrow.

This is what we ate today:

Breakfast: Superfood museli with berries, grated apple, seed mix and coconut

Morning Tea: Banana and handful of raw nuts

Lunch: Sesame salad with artichoke, chickpea, celery and kale and a bowl of lentil and carrot soup

Afternoon Tea: Blueberry smoothie, handful of olives then a rooibos tea

Dinner: Wild rice, fennel and mushroom pilaf

Drinks: Lots of water, a vitamin liver detox drink, and some rooibos tea

The seed mix is a blend of ground up seeds and we're putting them on almost everything during the detox. It's about 50% ground flaxseed/linseed to 50% blend of other seeds. I used chia, black sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Once you blend them keep them in a non-plastic container tightly sealed in the fridge. I've been sprinkling it on the kid's peanut butter toast and they're enjoying it too.

How was it?

The museli was nicer than I thought. I hate breakfast and wasn't looking forward to eating a huge bowl of warm museli but it was actually quite good. To make it you put 40g of raw rolled oats in a bowl with 1 Tbsp seed mix (as above), 1 Tbsp dessicated coconut, 1 Tbsp blueberries and 1/2 grated apple. Then you cover it with boiling water and leave it for a few minutes so the oats soften and puff up.

Lunch was pretty good too. I got a bit sick of the salad so I also had some leftover carrot and lentil soup with some seed mix on top.

I skipped the olives for afternoon tea (couldn't see them going with a smoothie!) but Mr J had them.

Dinner was delicious!

Exercise

Once the kids are in bed we're going to do a couple of short detox focused yoga practices on myyogaonline.com. We also spent a few hours walking around an outlet mall today - that counts right?