Well, it’s time to render unto Caesar !
Happy April 15th !
Greta Grypp – The Choice to Detox
Several friends and colleagues asked me about my choice to do a food detox for 21 days. They thought eliminating seven types of food (gluten, sugar/artificial sweeteners, corn, soy, dairy, eggs, and peanuts) was a little extreme. Some even exclaimed to me, “What is there left to eat?”
My choice was due to the fact that it seemed every time I had a meal I felt ill. I eliminated gluten and felt somewhat better but I still had issues. Plus, I had little or no energy at times and struggled to complete my daily schedule. I kept wondering how I was going to live the rest of my life feeling this way. Then one day it occurred to me that I could very well be shortening my life by not addressing these issues.
I didn’t want any pharmaceuticals. You know when you reach a certain age and go to the doctor with complaints the first thing they want to do is write a prescription. Have you ever seen those commercials where they tell you the wonderful benefits of a new drug and then spend an additional 3 minutes telling you about the side effects in “munchkin” language? It is scary. So, since I believe God gave the human body the ability to heal itself and supplied nature with healing elements, I decided to try a more natural approach and to start with a detoxification.
I researched some various methods and many of them overlapped with their principles. I finally narrowed my choices down to the Virgin Diet (http://thevirgindiet.com) and the Ayurvedic Detoxification (http://www.mapi.com/ayurvedic-knowledge/detoxification/safe-ayurvedic-detoxification.html). I felt the Virgin Diet offered a more “user-friendly” approach to meal planning for my busy schedule and provided me a wealth of information on food choices. I needed this because a part of this process was an admission that I truly did not know how to eat in a way that my body could “healthily” process food. I chose the Ayurvedic Detoxification method because of the positive experiences I have had with Ayurvedic treatments in the past – in particular with the benefits of their Transcendental Meditation methods.
I am now completing Day 18 of the Virgin Diet – Cycle 1 – Elimination. I have lost 13 lbs and I feel great. Now, I will continue with Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 of the Virgin Diet while starting the 15 day preparation phase for the 45 day Ayurvedic Detox program. I know that sounds extreme but their eating plans are virtually identical and I will only be adding the herbal supplements, cleansing teas, and daily meditations to the overall plan.
All of this is hard work for me because I am cooking every day and it is difficult to cook for one person. However, I am embracing it as an adventure with new discoveries to be made along the way. I think my body was long overdue for a “system reboot” and this detoxification is proving to be the perfect way to “get a grip” on a healthy lifestyle again.
QUESTION(S):
Have you ever done a detoxification diet?
Would you consider a detoxification diet?
Ode to Elena – A Self Portrait
My thoughts tonight could not stay on the subject I wanted to blog about as I was deep into my past. Memories flooded my mind so I wrote it out. I decided to share it here.
Ode to Elena
Elena was born from the passion of a touch, from the depth of a look, from the whisper of a name.
In an instant, Elena lived and embraced all of the emotions that filled her in that moment.
Elena existed in spurts of time filled with love and loving, laughter and smiles, touches and caresses.
Elena was moved by the music that filled her air, the wine that wet her lips, and the dance that swayed her hips.
Elena was the dark-skinned sun worshipper who straddled her lover on crisp white sheets beneath the moonlight that guided them.
Elena was the one whose hand he held to his chest to feel the tempo of his heartbeats.
Elena lived and loved, loved and lived, so much, too much, grabbing, holding, reaching, wondering, yearning, and waiting …for the next time.
Then one time the next time ended.
And Elena died – just as she was born – in an instant.
It’s April Fool’s Day – Time for a Prank
I realized yesterday that it has been a very long time since I played a good April Fool’s prank on someone. I use to really get into the holiday when I was in my 20’s and 30’s and played a few really good pranks. The two that still make me chuckle I will share with you now.
The first one was on one of my best girlfriends from high school. We were still good friends in our 20’s and she had a weakness for good-looking men. In fact, we all did. At that time, I worked for the City of Houston-Parks and Recreation Department which was the fruit of my prank idea. I called my girlfriend up and reminded her of an event we had recently attended together. I told her that I had cross paths with a young man that was at that event and he was asking a lot of questions about her. I told her how good looking he was giving him all of the attributes that I knew were attractive to her. I told her his name was Walter Lyon and he gave me his office number to give to her. I told her to call it and ask for Mr. Lyon which took lots of convincing to get her to do. The number I gave her was to the Houston Zoo. So, when she finally called on April Fool’s Day and asked for Mr. Lyon the attendant told her that he could not come to the phone because he was in his cage. Needless to say she was furious with me but eventually got a good laugh out of it, too.
The second good prank was on my boyfriend and occurred in the pre-social media days. I created some bogus letterhead from Playgirl Magazine and sent him a letter. In the letter, I told him that pictures of him had been submitted for centerfold consideration and I was sorry to inform him that the submission had been rejected. I knew he would be concerned because he was an attorney and college professor. I waited to see how long it would be for him to tell me about it. When he finally told me it was all I could do to give a shocked face and indignation about some other woman having nude pictures of him. Of course, he denied the existence of nude pictures and worked hard to convince me he was telling the truth. Finally, I had to tell him it was all a joke. He was not happy with me for a few days and I had to promise to never do it again. I think that is when I stopped being a prankster for April Fool’s Day
I still like a good prank but these days everyone is so tense I opt to avoid playing them.
QUESTION(S):
Do you like a good prank?
Tell us about a good prank you have played on someone.
Greta Grypp Report #3
As I stated last month, March was going to be a better month. It was. Greta actually gave me a “thumbs up” to show her approval. My focus this month was on evaluating the mistakes from February and researching some new methods to improve my journey. When my girlfriend and fellow blogger, Anne, called me with the news she was revamping her healthy routine with eating “clean and organic”, I decided to try something similar. (You can read about Anne’s journey at http://www.amivintageyet.com).
I recalled that I had a book in my Kindle library entitled “The Virgin Diet” that I had skimmed through previously. It promoted starting with an eliminating detox diet to help with food intolerances and to aid in weight loss. I decided to do it. I had already given up gluten and experienced positive results so I knew the benefits of eating clean. However, this diet required that I give up more – soy, corn, peanuts, dairy, eggs, and sugar/artificial sweeteners in addition to the gluten. Also, it required eating organic veggies, pasture-raised chicken/turkey, grass-fed beef / pork, and wild seafood that contained little or no mercury.
So, I adjusted my previous plan. I knew I was going to have to organize and prepare food for every meal. It also meant I would have to cook more which requires time from my already burdened schedule. I was determined so I worked my plan to get started with Cycle 1 – the elimination diet for 21 days.
I have just completed 7 days of the 21 days and I lost 7 lbs. I feel really good and have steady energy. The amazing thing is I have no cravings. When I gave up only the gluten I still had some cravings. Now that I gave up the other 6 food items I have no cravings.
This month I did try to start exercising again after my biking accident last month but I started too soon. I worked out on my treadmill and my knee started to ache again. I think I need to wait a little longer to do any weight-bearing workout. This week I plan to try exercising again using only my stationary bike.
Overall, I am back on track with “getting a grip” on changing my health. I am reaching beyond my old methods and embracing some new ones. I will share information about them as I move along on my healthy path.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- …
- 46
- Next Page »
