October So Far

Ezekiah did a cartwheel off our porch steps

Urijah decided to try his hand at photography

We had our first snowfall!

Little Eskimos

Zarik and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary and actually got to go out to dinner (double amazing was that I found something I could eat on the elimination diet at our favorite restaurant, Danny's Corner Bistro!!)

And we made our own cheese crackers. So yummy! This is going to be a regular activity in our house for sure.

One Cleanse Down

So I finished my Isagenix Cleanse (detailed here) At the end of September. October 1st I started a "Comprehensive Elimination Diet" that my awesome Dr has put together. More on that later. First, the Cleanse:

I was surprised how ease I found it. Except for the last week. My 2nd to last cleanse day found me sick with a cold, so I decided it wasn't wise to continue as a cleanse day, and instead just had chicken soup all day. Then I struggled to find another day to fit that cleanse in, so it just didn't happen. That was the week I was on a jury, so yeah. Not the easiest week to stay on track. I was proud of myself, considering everything, though. On the last day, I measured and weighed myself to see the difference. Here are my results: (Oh, and I'm not going to tell you my actual weight and measurements, ha. Just how many pound and inches I lost.)

Weight - 10lbs lost (YEAH!)
Neck - 2" lost
Upper Arms - 1" lost on each arm
Chest/Bust - 4" lost
Diaphragm - 2.5" lost
Waist - 7" lost!!!! (I was most shocked and excited by this!)
Abdomen - 3" lost
Buttocks - 2" lost
Upper Thigh - 1.5" lost on each leg

All in all I was really excited. Although for me weight loss is a secondary thing right now, I know it's a byproduct of all I am doing. I was really nervous I'd get to the end and there'd be no outward change, though. I was scared my body was broken for good. This really gave me a boost of confidence.

So now we're onto this Elimination Diet. It's kinda the opposite side of weight loss from the Cleanse. In the Cleanse I wasn't restricted (beyond sugar and drinking anything but water) in WHAT I ate (although they encouraged you to eat "healthy"), but I was restricted in HOW MUCH (calories). The Elimination Diet is restricted heavily in WHAT you can eat, but NOT in HOW MUCH, or calories.

So here are the things I'm avoiding: Citrus, Dairy, Eggs, Gluten (ie wheat), Corn, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Egg Plants, Peppers, Pork, Beef, Processed Meats (ie hotdogs, coldcuts, even though I can have turkey), Shellfish, Soy products, Peanuts, Butter, Margarine, Processed Oils, (ie most condiments), Alcohol, Caffeine, Coffee (even Decaf), Soft drinks (even caffeine free, sugar free ones), Sugar (brown or white), honey, maple syrup, HFCS, cane juice.

Amazingly, I'm 8 days in and not starving! The nutritionist that works with Dr. J gave me an awesome 1 week menu of ideas that has helped a LOT. And the way we eat (multiple small meals through the day, almost like snacks) I still haven't gone through a lot of the recipes. I'm looking forward to trying a lot of them. Here's a couple pictures of things that are helping me through this:

This is my breakfast most mornings - A protein smoothie: Mixed Berries, Chocolate Pea Protein Powder, Coconut Milk, and Flax Oil.

This was a yummy Applesauce Bread. The kids LOVED it, ha! They ate the majority of it. I liked it with a little Apple Butter or Pear Butter spread on top.

Colors of Fall

I love fall. I love taking drives with my family. I love Colorado. I love combining the three of these things. Coming from a place where there weren't really any deciduous trees at all, I absolutely LOVE taking drives with my family in Colorado in the fall. Aspens are so amazing this time of year! I love watching as Pikes Peak's lower half starts looking like it's on fire. Everywhere you look there are splashes of color among the dark green Pines. When I was driving to Cripple Creek for jury duty a couple of weeks ago the leaves had just started to turn, so the following week I convinced Zarik that we should go out that way and take a drive. I'd also found a cool scenic drive website that gave us a great idea of a route to take. Here's a glimpse as to what we get to enjoy every fall.