Friday, April 2, 2010

A New Experiment

Yeah, yeah, yeah, me and my experiments ...

I went to the doctor today. He says that these mood swings I'm having are perfectly normal for someone who has had a brain injury and to just expect them and deal with them. Lovely. See, I've been ornerier than a mama bear in the middle of the winter who was just awakened for the eighth time by her fighting cubs. My nerves have been really close to the surface and controlling my outbursts ... hasn't been going so well. So I guess I get to just plan on feeling like I have the world's worst PMS for a little while yet.

But as to the rest of me, I am better. Not enough to leap on a treadmill or go on a marathon run with Brent, but I'm able to walk around a bit better. I even went to the grocery store today without hurting myself, so progress is made.

Now, on to the experiment.

Foods in the lettuce family contain silica, and silica is excellent for helping injured tissues to heal. I firmly believe that we are all entitled to inspiration as to what our bodies need, and while pondering it today, I had the impression that I need to consume a large quantity of salad. I got to thinking about it. I have always loved going to salad bars. I like sprinkling beets and kidney beans and all sorts of fun little extras on my salad. I realized that I honestly could eat a nice big salad every day if it had some fun little veggies in it to keep it from being boring. In fact, I could eat two, and that's what my body wants.

So, for the entire month of April, here is my experiment:

Every day, I will eat a salad for lunch and another for dinner. I went to the store today and got a ton of fun little things to throw in there - cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts, pepper jack cheese, croutons, beets, kidney beans, pineapple tidbits, toasted almonds, and fat free dressing. I also got some tuna and some chicken, and eggs. I can vary what goes into the salad and control the protein content, etc, by adding meat and eggs. Then I can do a grain for breakfast, or a slice of whole wheat toast with my salad, if I feel the need.

I'm actually really excited about this. Eating salads is a great way to lose weight and get nutrients, and by adding in the protein, etc, I'm not going to starve like you do on most salad diets - in fact, a nice little salad can fill me up. I have struggled for a long time with getting enough vegetables, and there are times where I go for three or four days without eating any produce at all.

The point here is:

To give my body a ton of silica so it has the ingredients it needs to mend my tissues

To give my body a ton of nutrients so I can start to heal from years of neglecting myself

To increase my appreciation for healthy foods

To eat less junk food and more high-nutrition food

I do imagine there will be an occasional treat here and there ... I'm not a saint by any means and I know that my willpower needs a shot in the arm. But this is an eating experiment I can live with. At the end of the month, I'll evaluate and see how I'm doing. Of course, during such times as the Storymaker conference, when I'm not in charge of what I'm eating, I'll need to waggle a little, but I really, really think this will help me get headed in the direction I want to head in.

5 comments:

Sandra said...

Yay for more veggies!! I love salad. Just remember that iceberg lettuce is mostly water and there are other kinds of lettuce like Romane, Spinach, Arugala....
that have more nutrients in them.

(note to self, get salad at the store today)

Sandra said...

here I am again-

I like this site for things to replace what I want with something healthier: This one is about the lettuce but links to other things are on there:

http://online.prevention.com/gopowershopping/list/7.html

Marta O. Smith said...

Isn't it a horrible feeling to be so not yourself and you know it's not the real you, but you can't seem to control it. I hope you are back to normal soon. I'll bet your children do too.

Good luck with the salad thing. Please post any particularly serendipitous combinations! One of my favorite salads is spinach leaves, mandarin oranges, and poppy seed dressing. The dressing is a little calorie dense, but it's a strong flavor, so a little goes a long way.

Anna said...

My husband has been taking salads to work every day. He has lost a couple of pounds. Typically he has the lettuce, tomato, egg, ham, cheese, and dressing. And he says he gets real full.

I wish I could eat it as often. I like spinach leaves for salad. But I just in the recent years have started being okay with salad.. maybe someday I will actually really want them a lot.

Sabine Berlin said...

Good Luck. i have been out of the loop for a bit and missed the car accident news. So sorry. Hope this helps you to heal!