Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Last of Other Things

It shouldn't make a difference to me that I am running out of certain foods, but it does.  On Sunday, I woke up in the morning to the realization that I no longer have meat left in the house and that I will not be going back to it.  Panic! I thought for a moment as I was waking up that I had nothing in the house to eat which is not true.  Still, being mindful is important so I just had to admit that yes, I don't have many things left in the house and it is in accordance to my own plan.I have plenty of food that is healthy for me.

I think I may have written in here that when I was young, there often wasn't any food to eat or food that made me sick.  I grew up in a dysfunctional family.  There was enough money and my father and mother ate well, but us kids often didn't have enough.  I made sure there was plenty of things to eat and drink for my own children growing up although with money problems such as child support didn't always come in it was difficult but it was done.   I didn't like the fact that I spent hard earned cash on apple juice so my kids would not drink the sugary drinks such as Kool Aid and then I found out years later that the juice was loaded with Alar, a chemical additive.  I have since found out that apples are loaded with pesticides and I buy organic; however, my kids are all grown up now.

So, when I saw that one more thing has disappeared from the pantry, I felt the same sort of panic that I felt when younger I did not have enough food to eat.  Ah, these things happen and I was not surprised to feel these emotions that morning.  I did write about it in my journal, however, and that made all the difference in the world.  This is a journey I need to take and that I am not facing starvation although I have dropped seven pounds since I started this.  There is a difference in starvation and trying to lose weight.  I just keep that in mind.  Things are much healthier for me when I juice and eat the food that I do now.  I feel better and I can climb steps without difficulty or pain.  

Friday, August 24, 2012

Giving Away Things


Because I no longer drink coffee and I don't want to go back to it, I have been trying to get rid of my coffee maker, grinder and Keurig Machine along with k-cups and bags of Starbucks coffee as well as coffee cups.  The Keurig is only a month old.  I needed more room on the counter for the juicers.  I decided to bring back the Keurig since I have not been able to give it away.  I have tried.  One man who drinks a lot of coffee said that he thought it would be too much of a life-change.  Well, I can use the Keurig to make hot water for my herbal teas.  As for the coffee, I have them in a bag in the closet with other coffee things and will decide what to do with it later.  The kitchen is much better now.

I wrote that I used the last of the bread yesterday.  I have been toasting it and the handle fell off a week ago.  It was hard but not impossible to use, so I threw away the toaster.  I have decided to throw away many things in my place that I don't use any more.  This apartment complex has a man who comes by the dumpsters every week day morning to look at useable things in case they could be still used by others. Residents are to place such things next to the dumpster and he will go through them and give away the usable things to such places as Goodwill and Value Village.  I have never lived anywhere with this type of service was available.  I have put chairs out there along with other things such as an entire dish collection when I decided to replace with just one set of dishes and to get rid of the odds and ends I had in my cupboards.  I put them in a box and the man took them to give away to charities.  I was ending up with junk in my closets and cupboards that looked good but I never used anymore.  

This giving away of usable things is new for me.  I have never done it before.  I usually keep things for years and never use them.  I was raised in such circumstances that few new things came my way.  Now, I live in an area that have excellent second hand stores, which everyone uses, because many of the things in those stores are new.  The prices are very good and there is senior citizen discounts.  In Value Village, every Wednesday there is a 40 percent discount on everything for seniors.  I used that store to get many of the things in my apartment.  I don't need anything else now.  

I also shop off the Amazon.  I tried other sources off the Internet without success.  The prices are good and I joined a "prime" club on the Amazon when I got my kindle from them. This gives me free shipping and handling along with two day delivery on anything that I order if it is under the prime heading.  I have bought kindles for my grandchildren for school.  I often just sit back at home and shop for things there and carefully read the reviews on each product that I consider.  I have been saved from a bad purchase many times.  I got my juicer on sale there after putting it on my wish list.  I am very happy with it.  

When I got out of college with my bachelor degree, I could not find work right away.  I was supporting my kids and the money from a scholarship had ceased.  I did housework to make ends meet.  I was surprised at the large amount of things the people I worked for gave away.  One time a woman whose family home had a swimming pool, was throwing away about 20 swimming trunks for boys.  I asked if I could have them and they kept my sons in swimming trunks for several years.  For me, giving away useful things was something another group of people did, not me.  I thought that woman was silly because her sons wanted new swimming trunks and she gave in to them.  I still do, but I can see now how good it is to get rid of extra stuff in one's home.  


I did not get rid of my coffee things, but I will keep them in the hall closet until I figure out what I want to do. As for the Keurig, I cleaned it last night and will be making tea with it this morning.  I am glad I kept it.  I did not regret giving away my dishes.  They were useful when I first moved here to Portland, but I bought a wonderful set of dishes from Goodwill on sale that were new.  It is nice to have more room in my cupboards. It is nice to have more room in my life.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Last of the Bread

I am on my way to a juice fast but am eating the last of the food in my pantry.  This morning, I ate the last two pieces of toast.  I am gluten free and bread is very expensive for me.  I was given three loaves of gluten free bread from the New Cascadia Traditional Bakery here in Portland. It is ironic that I am on the cusp of going bread free that I discovered a great gluten free bread, but it is the way I have decided to go. 

When I was eating gluten (I was not aware at the time that I had celiac disease), I often ate white bread.  My favorite breakfast was toast, orange juice and coffee with half and half.  I am no longer drinking coffee or having any milk related foods.  I can't image the amount of pesticides that went with my breakfasts.  Now, that I do, I avoid it. 

Bread is a convenient food.  You can toast it and put all sorts of things on it. My favorite was butter with some berry preserves.  I still eat berries but I juice them now.  When I was in the hospital, they gave me gluten free food and two slices of gluten free bread.  They never toasted it.  No matter how good the gluten free bread is, it always tastes like cement UNLESS you toast it.  Still it was so handy to put something on it and slap another piece of toast on it.   This morning it was very sad to see the last of the bread on my plate as I will not be eating any sort of starch until after the juice fast which will last as long as it takes to drop the excess weight that I am carrying. 


Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Coming back to life


I decided to bring back this blog because health issues were ending up on my other blog, "A writer's beginnings (again)" There is a lot happening in this area of my life.  I am beginning to lose weight again which is nice; however, my arthritic pain as dropped considerably.  I feel more energetic than I have felt for years. I am eating organic now as I have learned how much pesticides were in my food and my original cancer was from pesticides.  I have had cancer many times and want to avoid it for obvious reasons. Losing weight can improve this as well.

I have given up coffee because the juicing fast recommends it.  It was hard to do so. I also am now a vegan but I am slowing transitioning out of this and will be entering into a juice fast as soon as all of the food of my kitchen is gone.  I am still juicing everyday and eating one small meal.  I have three juicing machines, but the best one is from Amazon.  I chose that one from the reviews.  I bought some brand new juicers from Goodwill but one failed immediately.  The smaller one is a good one but messy.  I bought another for a small price at Grocery Outlet.  It is good, but very messy and  does not extract enough from the produce.  I use it every so often.  I will be trying other methods to get the juice out because Organic is very expensive.

I am positive juicing is the right way for me to go.  I will keep some aspects of it once I lose all of my excess weight which will take a while.  I want to continue juicing and eating raw organic fruits and vegetables but incorporate small meals.  I won't be going back on coffee nor eating meat again. I am not sure of milk products right now,  Like everything else, I will take this trip mindfully and see what happens.  Someone said that life is too short if one can't eat the good stuff and enjoy it.  If I go back to the way I was eating, I will have a much shorter lifespan and it will be more painful.  I can do without the hamburger and french fries.   It is possible to eat that way here in Portland.

Again, I have no idea whether or not anyone reads these blogs; however it does not matter.  I am having one grand time writing it and living this life.