Day 34.....

Here is a preview of my breakfast this morning. I know it looks interesting to say the least, but it sure held me today and made my tummy and body energy happy for a handful of hours.  It is:

1 cup carrot juice

1 avocado

1 banana

1 pear

3 red swiss chard

I don't have a juicer but I found at my grocery store that they have a cold section in the produce area that has fresh bottled organic 100% juices.  I figure that if I am careful with allotting out my juice maybe I can do that for a while until I figure out what I really want in a juicer.

The last several days have been hard for me in the area of food cravings. Specifically I have been craving carbohydrates and junk food.  It has made me very edgy and irritable and I have hated it while trying to figure out what in the world is wrong with me. It finally dawned on me yesterday that I had not grabbed a handful of almonds in a few days. I know that sounds way too easy of an answer but it is the solution. I ate a few last night and felt completely better.

Almonds are so packed with energy, protein and tons of other nutrients. That handful I had every day must have really balanced out my snack cravings more than I realized. 

It is such a daily journey to learn to listen to my body. I feel so much better now that I am eating healthy. Now when I eat something that is not a "healthy" food, I really notice how it makes me feel. I can't believe I used to feel this way all the time and thought it was normal.  For example, I made a loaf of banana chocolate chip bread for my family tonight and I ate a slice. Now my stomach is cramped up and I am wishing I would have ignored the warm smell from the oven.  How I feel now sure doesn't match what my emotional memory told me it would be like. And it used to be so normal to have at least 3 slices before the evening was over with.

Cooking is turning out to be quite an adventure. With my husband needing to be on a low salt diet and me preferring raw, I have to think a little bit more in the kitchen now. It is fun to revamp all of our favorite recipes and I am excited at how he is so open to new flavors.

Here is a snack I created for him today that he went nuts over. My husband has always enjoyed a tasty bowl of popcorn with lots of flavor. But that flavor comes at a price right?  Here is what I did to fix that.
I melted 3 TBSP of coconut oil in a pot and added 1 TBSP of Agave Nectar. Then shook it all together with 1/3 cup of popping corn over the stove until it was all done. He loved it and there was no guilt or worry attached to it.

Sigh.....ok I need to go drink some water and filter out this banana bread.
Take care and be amazingly blessed. Have fun with food and experiment with the awesome things that God created for us.