Rambling Up and Down

Hi,

I checked my weight today and found I went up about 3 pounds. I knew that I should just weigh myself once a week, but have been seeing a lot of websites that recommend weighing every day.  It was not at my usual time and it was also after, instead of before, I had eaten, so I don't know precisely what this means. I'll just stay on the program and keep going.

I've been very happy that my ankles are not swollen even the slightest bit. I keep checking them to make sure I am not seeing things, but they are normal sized and I can see my bones, so things are cool in that department.

I think I might have eaten too much Ezekial bread yesterday and I also had a large grapefruit rather close to going to bed. When I woke in the night with night sweats I knew I had eaten too much stuff that had turned to sugar as I slept, so will have to curtail that department. Especially late in the day like that was.

I've been very pleased with how the new eating program is moving my internal "plumbing" along. I have not been constipated for quite a while and seem to be going, sometimes, up to three or more times in a day. I am wondering how to say that it is no longer "tubular" if you get my drift. It seems to be less "packed" and lots easier to discard. Sorry if that was TMI. I just think that is a sign that this is a better program for the whole body in more ways than were perhaps anticipated. It feels like healing is going on.

I have also been reading that many people who eat raw, soak their nuts and seeds overnight before eating them. I thought about that today and put about a serving size of raw peanuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds in enough water to cover them completely. I let them soak for a couple of hours and then tried them out. For starters they are much easier to chew. The water seems to have been soaked up by the nuts and seeds and it has made them somewhat softer, but they still have a bit of crunch to them.  The taste was hardly different than when not soaked but I think I actually enjoyed the experience more. I will have to try it "overnight" to see what happens when you soak them for a longer period of time, but, so far, I like the two hour soak, too.

When I was at the Whole Foods market I looked for a package of Chia seeds since my brother, Dan, had sent me some good information on them. They look like they are very nutrient dense and I wanted to try some out. I did not find any at the store. When I was looking for them, I found that they have rather large packages of many other kinds of seeds for sprouting and they don't seem to be very expensive. I was only looking for the Chia so I did not buy any, but I bought two packages of already sprouted broccoli and sunflowers which I have been adding to my salads and sandwiches. They are pretty tasty as greens go.

After soaking the nuts I can see where it might be rather easy to grow my own sprouts from the inexpensive seeds and I am going to try doing that, once I look up how to do it without buying a lot of equipment. I think I used to own a bottle with a "shelf" that had tiny holes in it to hold the seeds kind of above the water but there was something about that that I became disinterested in, so I don't think I pursued that more than once. It was probably just too much trouble. I'll just go online and find out how to sprout things and see what I can find. It has occurred to me that I might be able to reuse the plastic containers that my sprouts came in. If I were to line the bottom with seeds and water and place them in the window, they should, theoretically sprout. Those packages are like tiny terrariums. It couldn't be easier than that. So I shall try that out, even as I search for instructions and other people's experiences. I'll have to go with sunflower seeds to start, because I already have some of those seeds. I think I'll try broccoli sprouts as soon as I get some seeds because those seem to be my favorite. I had read that there is something negative in alfalfa sprouts so I may side step them until I get more information. But would like to try the Chia seeds if I ever get any. I know that beans are easy to sprout.

I may have to buy the Chia seeds online. I have found some sites that seem to be full of information similar to what Dan sent to me. By the way, when I hit reply to thank him for the information, his original e-mail became inaccessible to me. I had wanted to save it to read again later, but it appears to be gone forever. That was in gmail, which I don't really use much, so I wonder if I hit a wrong button or something. I thought I just hit "reply" so I'm a little lost on that one.  Anyway the information that he sent me is available from doing a Google search for "Chia seed" and it seems to be one of the true super foods. Most reviews of it, say that it tastes good, but since taste is subjective I'd like to taste it and see. I am wondering how it should be prepared, too. I will be looking that up, also.

One more gross thing. You may want to skip this paragraph if you are sensitive. The soaked seeds and nuts that I just ate seem to have activated my digestive process and I've gone to the bathroom twice since I started blogging today. I figured I would weigh myself to see if that made a difference and I went down nearly 1.5 pounds. So the good news is I only put on 1.5 instead of 3 pounds for today. Ok. Enough of that stuff.

The post today seems to be quite "self absorbed" to say the least. I know that most of them are, but today seems to be really focused on the body functions. Sorry if that has been too much for you. I'd like to remain interesting to my readers, but feel I need to keep reporting my findings on the new Raw Food Program, as candidly as possible too. So... there you are.

By the way, I bought some sprouted beans, but don't know how to eat them. Any ideas? I guess I've got to look that up, too. Going to be busy with research for a while.

May you be blessed this day.

Love you,

Be back soon

--Marcia