Food and Personal Goals of the Month - June 2010

Wow, June already?  Both last month and this month are full of big changes as I'm doing my best to heal my body and nourish myself (and my family) before our next round of IVF.  And time is running out...very, very quickly.  So I'm doing a lot of change at once instead of going slowly.  I'm surprised that it has been relatively easy in terms of food preparation and not feeling like we're deprived of our favorite food.  It just takes a lot of research and planning.  This is going to be another LONG post.  I'm learning so much and changing so much.  I hope I can get it all written out in a somewhat organized manner.

As usual I'll start with cost savings.  No big changes here.  Mostly just keep doing what I have been for the last few months.

Cost Savings
1. Continue recording spending and sales.

2. Food budget - stick with $100/week.

3. Continue to calculate homemade costs.

4. Continue to plan meals based on sales/what we have on hand/2 class nights a week.

5. Continue to make as much food as possible from scratch.

6. 2nd hand shopping - when the need arises.

7. Voogt beef - receive order and deliver to family.

8. Simplify
This is a new one that I've been working on over the last month.  Figuring out what I really need and don't need and what's better for our health.  Just a few years ago I took 2 showers a day (one before work, one after my afternoon workout) and used shampoo and conditioner on my hair each time.  I had to buy them quite often.  Now I take one shower (have been for a long time...that's not related to this change) and only use a small amout of shampoo most days.  I only use conditioner about twice a week now.  That bottle is going to last a LONG time.  I have also decided that I don't need shaving gel.  It's got bad stuff in it, and it's really not necessary.  I just bought 2 bottles of natural hand/body lotion...one for upstairs, one for downstairs.  And that's all we need.  I got rid of pretty much all the others I had since they all had parabens.  In the kitchen I use half as much dishwasher detergent.  And I no longer use rinse aid (can't tell any difference so far).  These are all small steps but will be good for our health and will save money in the long run.

Food

Here is where all the new stuff comes.  Let's see if I can write out everything I've been doing, researching, learning and planning.

At the beginning of last month I came across a cookbook called Nourishing Traditions.  I saw it on several blogs I follow.  And as I looked into it I found more and more people that used it.  I decided to check it out from the library.  As I started reading it I realized I have been eating so poorly my whole life.  Especially over the last decade.  This book has truly changed my outlook on food and nutrition.  I now have my own copy.  It goes into detail about every vitamin, mineral, enzyme, food, etc. that our body needs.  I am still making my way through it and learning so much.  I hope to do a book review post soon where I'll talk more about it.  As I read this book and started to find more blogs that follow this way of thinking I have been changing the way I eat, cook and view food.  I need to be eating only real food.  No chemicals, nothing genetically modified, nothing with "vitamins" or "fiber" added, etc.  There are way too many details to write it all here.  If you'/re curious check out the book.  You can also find a lot of information on the Weston A. Price Foundation webiste (the book is based on it).  I'm hoping to start doing posts on individual topics, like various food preparation techniques.  Be on the lookout.

For now I'll start with my focus.  There are 2 main things I focus on...digestion and fertility.  And the way I eat has such a huge impact on both.  I'll start with digestion.  Even with IVF on the horizon digestion is actually my first priority.  It impacts every moment of my life.  Before that just meant how my tummy feels each day.  But now I realize that it truly does impact everything.  If your gut is unhealthy the rest of your body will be unhealthy.  Did you know that about 70-80% of your immune system is based in your gut?  I had no idea!  Also your gut has more nerve cells and neurotransmitters than your nervous system.  It's like a 2nd brain.  A healthy gut helps fight off infection, illness, toxins, etc.  But a weak gut leaves you susceptible to all kinds of things.  A healthy gut helps you absorb and use vital nutrients.  As someone that has had a very dysfunctional gut for many, many years I know that I have a lot of healing to do.  My gut has been so damaged by supplements, bad food, etc.  Even the cereal that I had eaten daily for years (thinking it was healthy...that's what we are told) may have done more damage than I can imagine (glad I've gotten out of the habit of eating that!).  And if I can achieve healing on my gut, the rest of my body will follow.  So, how do I do that?  I'm not 100% sure.  I'm still trying to figure it out.  But I at least have a starting point.  The main thing is to get balance back...fill my gut with good flora and get the bad out.  I have already started this process (as you can tell by some of my recent food adventures)...and it's a tough one for sure!  I think I'm in the in-between phase right now.  I have been adding lots of good bacteria to my diet and eliminating the food that feeds the bad stuff.  So my body is trying to adjust.  It's trying to flush out the bad stuff.  How's it going?  Well, as is the case with many major changes/treatments things often get worse before they get better.  It kind of feels like there is a war going on in my intestines right now.  And it doesn't feel very good.  My intestines are trying to work on something 24-7.  There has been so much damage and build up of bad stuff over the years that it's taking my body a lot of work to start the healing process and to get rid of the bad stuff.  Honestly, it's painful.  And very unpleasant.  But I want to get better.  So I'm dealing with it.  This is where the miralax comes in.  I had tried to cut back on that after I cut out the citrucel.  And it did not go over very well.  I have decided that my body can only handle so much change at once.  After the healing begins and my intestines are working better and I am feeling better again I will work on cutting out the miralax.  But for now I have to keep taking it...and even sometimes more than just that to try to flush things out of my system.  It feels like I have 20 years worth of build up that my intestines aren't quite sure how to handle now that my body wants to get rid of it.  Ok, was that more than you wanted to know about my gut?  On to the good part.  Here are my goals that are oriented towards healing my digestive system.

1. Continue taking a probiotic
2. Eat more cultured dairy (i.e. yogurt, kefir)
3. Eat fermented foods and drinks daily
4. Reduce sugar as much as possible (sugar feeds bad bacteria)
5. Don't overdo on grains - what I do eat must be whole grain that is soaked, sprouted or sourdough
6. Nothing refined, no chemicals, preservatives, nothing synthetic, etc. - only real food
7. Eat bone broth (which requires me to make some first :)

My 2nd goal is to improve fertility and increase our chance of a successful IVF cycle/pregnancy.  While I was researching NT I came across a book called Real Food for Mother and Baby (which I also bought).  Part of it focuses on a fertility diet.  It is very detailed about all of the vitamins, etc. that you need to conceive and where to get them.  So much good information.  It makes me wonder if it really is possible for me to actually become fertile...naturally.  Maybe over time.  We'll see.  For now I'm focusing on our current situation and doing what I can to prepare my body.  As I work on healing my gut hopefully this will naturally happen to a degree.  But there are specific things related to fertility that I'll be doing in addition to the digestive stuff.  Here are my fertility related goals.  Some of them overlap with the digestive stuff.

1. Eat plenty of full fat dairy.  I would love to switch to raw milk some day, but it's not an option at the moment.  So whole, non-homo milk will have to do.

2. Eat plenty of animal products/fats - butter, eggs, meat, cheese, organ meats.  I'm hoping to try adding liver to my diet.  It is a powerhouse when it comes to nutrition.  I am also working on eating raw egg yolks once in a while (like in my smoothies).

3. Eat more seafood.  Seafood is so great for omega-3 fats (DHA) and iodine.  The DHA is really important for Justin.  Shrimp is a good source of zinc...which is also critical for male fertility and men's health in general.  I'm hoping to stock up on some quality seafood this week and eat it once or twice a week.

4. Eat more veggies, less fruit.  This a kind of strange one.  I'm still researching it.  But I'm learning that although fruit is healthy you shouldn't overdo.  It does still have sugar.  It may be natural, but it is still sugar, which is bad for both digestive health and fertility.  I have always put fruits and veggies in the same category because I only viewed food in terms of fiber content.  So as long as I was getting some of one or the other I was ok.  I need to get away from that.  I don't have to worry about my fiber intake anymore!!!  I get plenty.  And there is much more to digestion than fiber (contrary to what you hear these days).  Fruits and veggies contain many different nutrients and have different functions.  Especially recently I've been eating a lot of fruit.  I thought it was good to eat a bunch more fruit.  But I'm finding that may not be the case.  Yes, snacking on fruit is better than snacking on a cookie.  But it's still not always good.  I need to replace some of my fruit with veggies when I can.  Will I be able to start eating veggies for breakfast and bedtime snack?  We'll see.  That would be ideal.  I'll let you know at the end of the month how I did :)  For a new way to think about what food we really need check out this alternative food guide pyramid.  It's focused on vitamins/nutrients...the right way to think.

5.  Eat plenty of lentils, nuts and beans.

6. Use unrefined sea salt each day.

7. Use natural vitamins.  Ever since I started fertility treatments in 2006 I've been taking a multi-vitamin plus extra folic acid.  I now realize that this whole time I was taking synthetic vitamins.  Once again, chemicals that we are made to believe are good/natural.  When in fact they are man-made.  So I'm still in the process of finding a better vitamin.  Ideally I'd like to not take one at all because I should be getting what I need from my food.  But I'd rather not risk it right now when preparing for IVF/pregnancy.  By taking a natural vitamin my body can actually use the vitamins, not struggle to figure out how to process a chemical.  I did start taking one a little over a week ago, but have stopped since then.  I think the iron in it is causing some of my digestive distress.  I might buy the same kind in the iron-free version.  I'm still researching.  If my body does tolerate this vitamin I'll be able to stop taking the synthice folic acid as well since the vitamin has a full mg.

8. Eat bone broth - another nutrient powerhouse.

And in case anyone reading this is looking into nutrition for fertility, here is a list a the essential nutrients for women and good sources of each.  As you can see, without animal products you really can't get all of the nutrients you need.

folate (liver, leaves, lentils, nuts, chicken)
iodine (fish, roe, kelp, unrefined sea salt)
iron (red meat, liver)
vitamin A (butter, eggs)
vitamin B12 (meat, poultry, fish, clams, milk, eggs)
vitamin D (milk, pork, seafood)
vitamin E (olive oil, nuts)
vitamin K2 (goose liver, cheese, natto, butter, eggs)
zinc (oysters, beef, shrimp)

Just a note to say that all of these goals apply to my whole family...not as strictly on all of them, but for the most part.  Especially Justin.  We both need to be healthy for our IVF cycle :)  And all of this stuff boils down to one thing...eat REAL food.

So, those are my main healing goals.  Here is what I'm planning to be up to in the kitchen/with food this month.

1. Sprouting grains - includes wheat and other grains - use it in baking when possible.
2. Sprouting beans.
3. Make more sourdough recipes.
4. More fermenting.
5. More cultured dairy - once I get my kefir grains I'll start making that.  At some point I might try making my own yogurt, but that's not a priority since I can buy good yogurt.
6. Make bone broth.
7. Try new seafood recipes.
8. Figure out how to prepare liver.
9. Make homemade salad dressing - I'm not buying any more.
10. Make homemade mayo - I can use mayo in a lot of things.
11. Find ways to cook without using the oven when it's hot.
12. Food preservation as fresh fruits and veggies are available.
13. Continue with co-op.
14. Experiment with new foods for breakfast...that aren't sweet.
15. Weekly visits to the farmer's market

Misc.

Other than that this month is about enjoying our time off before we kick off the IVF process again.  Justin will be finishing his class later this month.  We're all excited for that.  We'll be celebrating Father's Day!  Rebecca and I will be having fun at playdates and a summer book study.  And I'll still be on the nursery cmt at church...this year I'll be the chair of the cmt.  Last year I was kind of the 2nd in command co-chair.  This year I take the lead.  Plus I may be joining my MOPS steering team...assisting the MOPPETS program.  That is still TBD.

June will be a busy month for sure.  And I'm learning new things and trying new things each day.  I know I only skimmed the surface on most of this stuff.  But hopefully I got the main things down.  Hopefully as I learn more and experience the positive effects that all of this has on me I'll be able to do some  posting about more specific/individual topics/foods/nutrients.  I will continue to be proactive about my health.  But at the same time I know in the end God is in control.  And all things happen according to his plan and in his time.  I can honestly say I am thankful for what happened to us during the first few months of this year.  If not for that I would have never found this path I'm on towards healing and nutrition.  God knows what we need, when we need it.  Lead me, Lord.

In case you got lost in all that or just decided to skip to the end, here's the recap:

Cost savings:
record spending and sales, $100 weekly budget, calculate homemade costs, meal planning, make food from scratch, 2nd hand shopping, beef order, simplify
Food:
Digestive health - Continue taking a probiotic, eat more cultured dairy, eat fermented food and drinks daily, reduce sugar, reduce grains, eat real food, eat bone broth

Fertility - eat plenty of full fat dairy, eat plenty of animal products/fats, eat more seafood, eat more veggies/less fruit, eat plenty of lentils, nuts and beans, use unrefined sea salt daily, use natural vitamins, eat bone broth

Kitchen work/general food - sprouting grains/flour, sprouting beans, sourdough recipes, fermenting, cultured dairy, bone broth, new seafood recipes, figure out how to prepare liver, homemade salad dressing, homemade mayo, find ways to cook without using the oven when it's hot, summer food preservation, continue with co-op, experiment with new foods for breakfast...that aren't sweet, farmer's market

Misc.:
Father's Day, end of summer class, play dates, book study, family time, nursery cmt, MOPS steering team?