Say it with me: "Eating For Health"

Wow.  Whew!  I knew it was going to be a long week last week and I was right!  Kung Fu Vegan powers activate...now I'm fighting off illness ALL around me.  All 3 kids have been home sick with me.  Coughing, sneezing, snotting in my direction.  I have been trying to fight off illness.  I feel it there trying to take hold, but thus far unsuccessful.  I have been juicing over time.  Even my husband has been juicing for me!  It's little wonder I'm teetering on the brink of illness disaster.  Last week was stressful, but the kind I like.  I actually thrive on these kind of things.  Book Fair chaos, and it was huge too.  We had great sales and great events.  But Friday as we were closing up I noticed a cold sore on my lip starting.  Always a sign that my immune system is wearing down and I'm fighting something off.  Looking back over the week of eating, I'm not surprised.  I wasn't eating my 4 to 6 cups of veggies a day.  I was BARELY even eating breakfast, if at all.  Plus I had been eating out for lunch.  I had a cheese mishap one day.  I scrapped, but I'm sure I got some cheese in me.  So, hello cold sore!  I took that as my cue to catch up on my healthier way of eating and immediately got out the juicer.  Thank you Tess for your immune boosting recipes, cause I've been hitting them hard.  Nothing says Kung Fu to germs like garlic, ginger and a plethora of fruits and veggies.  So I felt better this weekend, even as my children started to drop like flies around me.  But, I still feel it hovering there..waiting.  I've been back to the plan, my modified diet from Tess' 2 week plan.  That is to say here's how I eat (and it's something that has become natural to me):  First thing in the a.m. a big glass of water with 1/2 to whole fresh squeezed lemon (I use my ancestral hand juicer).  Then I usually munch on 1 cup of whole fruit while I get my breakfast ready.  Breakfast varies with my mood.  This a.m. I had an organic flax & granola cereal with organic raisins thrown in with almond milk.  Then lunchtime I have 1 or 2 cups of veggies....somehow some way.  Usually raw, as that is how I prefer vegetables. But, again lunch consists of where my mood takes me.  I try and get another veggie in as a snack, but that just depends.  If I'm not hungry, I absolutely do not eat.  This has been a huge thing for me, and one that I still struggle with.  I know you should eat as consistently as possible, but I've been "listening" to my body and well, that's that.  If I'm not hungry, forget it.  Not listening to my body and blithely indulging in whatever food addiction I had has brought me to the sad state of health I HAD been in until this point.  I like now way better than then, so I will choose to listen this time around.  And besides, I am in no danger of starving or losing too much weight.  Really.  I could keep a small family alive on my fat for at least a season.  Anyway, I usually try to finish eating by 7 p.m. (usually...that didn't happen fair week) that way giving my liver time to do it's magic.  And I'm all about trying to be nice to my body now.  After years of abuse, I feel like I'm kissing a friend's butt that I have wronged somehow and has been mad at me.  You feel like orange juice?  Right away, no problem.  What?  You want asparagus?  I really don't care for that...oh, fine.  I'll eat it, but only because you keep reminding me of the time I ate food from 2 different fast food places in the same meal.  (yes, that is a true, sad story.....much darkness lies in my past! lol).  So, yeah.  That's what's going on.  Eating for health.  What a great mantra or me.  I've also been taking care of business in my yard.  I pruned this poor apple tree that I swear NEVER had a thing done to it.  Now, I want to coax it into baring lots of nice fruit for me organically.  Wish me luck, I have NO idea what I'm doing.  Thank God for the internet.  Also, I started to compost in the kitchen.  A friend (Thank you Tonya if you're reading this!!) gave me an extra kitchen composting canister that she had at her house not using.  Now I can plan my garden.  This is all new stuff that normally would make me shut down and not be able to do out of fear of failing (wow, I never realized this about me...now I know where my son Owen gets it from) but I keep pep talking myself into doing it.  Who cares if I do it wrong, right?  The police won't come out and ticket me for the improper placement of carrots in my garden.  I just always want to know everything about what I'm doing and do it perfectly right the first time.  It's a madness, I realize that.  For me, I don't enjoy the learning process.  It would be so much easier if I could go see Lawrence Fishburn on "The Matrix" and learn by them downloading the info. in my head.  So, me being me, has to go crazy.  Do I start small and say master composting?  Oh, no.  I have to try: composting, gardening (organic), holistic medicines, food as medicine, making kombucha, making tofu, change my diet, change my activity levels, and change my life.  That's it.  Just that.  There is something wrong with me.  Now, I feel like I have to go because I should be reading a "how to" book or something.  Good grief.  At least I have great people around me and supporting me.  You are all awesome and I wish you nothing but the best life can bring you.  Let's do stats:

Hunger:  I had a bit of a hunger thing going on.  Not sure why.  I doubled up on veggies, because I noticed I have unspecific cravings when I don't eat as healthy.
Mood:  Better now.  Spring Break is about to start and it's beautiful out!
Cravings: Nothing specific, just hungry, but not knowing for what.
Health: Precarious.  Trying to fight off illness with all the arsenal at my disposal.

Sorry, it's been a while.  I wasn't at my best for writing last week and didn't want to subject you all  to ranting about book fairs and poodle skirts.  Don't ask!!  I'm back at it and am sure I will have many misadventures and hopefully victories to blog about.  Thank you.  Have a great night.  Be happy =)

Danielle