Well, things have been rolling in a perpetual cyclone of shifts and progressions, transgressions and recoveries, and, always, discoveries.
I spent last month testing my toes in the waters of the Body Ecology Diet. February: my month of transition to a new way of eating, living, being. Aside from some fascinating, if uncomfortable, physical detoxification effects, it has been a much smoother transition than I had expected. (Yes, I am knocking on wood as I type this.) I don’t mean to imply that it has been super easy-peasy. I have experienced amplified reverberations of my symptoms: fatigue on a colossal level; that fuzzy-headed, spaced out inability to focus on anything; sore muscles; achy joints; toxic dreams, feelings, emotional outbursts; etcetera. But I have enjoyed the food I’ve been eating. I am fortunate that I happen to love vegetables ... even the sour cultured vegetables that are a signature of the BED. And now it’s necessary for me to choose vegetables over, say, cookies. I thought my cravings for sweet treats would be overwhelming and intensely physical, but that has, thankfully, not been the case. I have been having emotional cravings for baked goods and ice creams and chocolates, but my physical cravings have been minimal. In fact, the only real physical cravings I’ve noticed are for coffee, earl grey tea, and plantain chips. Things I didn’t really consume all that much before beginning the BED. Strange.
After the initial detoxifying shock of the new dietary regime, my body has begun to feel better. It has been a subtle shift that seems to be happening in nearly imperceptible increments. All of a sudden I have been noticing an increase in energy. I am experiencing moments of great productivity. I am able to think more clearly and focus on the task at hand, as well as preparing for the next few tasks ahead. My symptoms are lessening. I am feeling kinda good. I still have some minor physical symptoms, but they are radically lessened in occurrence and intensity. I have also lost some weight.
So, yeah, it’s going pretty well.
I mentioned that my craving for baked goods has been pretty negligible. But my craving to actually bake goods has been intense. So much so that I have begun baking things that I cannot even eat. My friends and family are simultaneously loving me and hating me as I force upon them ... er ... lovingly offer to them treat after treat. I have been baking things with and without gluten. I have baked strawberry hand pies, white cake with strawberries and pimms buttercream, white cake with powdered hot chocolate mix topping, a trio of cookies for a tea party at the inn, and a couple recipes of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies just to try to find the best one. I am on a baking tear! And I’m loving it! All I want to do is bake things. Oh, and clean my house. In fact, I might be turning into Donna Reed. Check back often … could be I’ll morph into her slowly like The Fly. But it’s so much fun to keep house! I’ve been listening to my Andrews Sisters channel on Pandora, which sets the mood delightfully. So, get prepared for some recipe posts soon. And I mean recipes for household cleaners and cosmetics as well as cakes, cookies and pies!
I also finally got a new camera. It’s a good one, too: A Nikon D3100. I still don’t really know how to use it properly, but at least I have a tool for snapping photos while I’m figuring it out. I’ll post some soon. (Haven’t figured out how to get the photos from the camera to the computer yet. I’m such a luddite.)
Lastly, I’ll be posting soon about my recent jaunt to Greenville, NC – the Emerald City – where I met up with a friend from college whom I haven’t seen since we were in school together. Fun times! And photos! And recipes! Keep reading! I promise to get my caboose in gear and start posting proper ... er ... posts to keep things interesting. Wishing you blissful experimenting!
Xoxo,
Melanie
(above: strawberry hand pies)
(above + below: earl grey tea cookie sandwiches w/ apricot jam - joint venture with Susan Massey. photo courtesy of KDI)
(above: salty oats + cranberry cookies. photo courtesy of KDI)
(above: strawberry shortcake mini muffins - joint venture with Susan Massey. photo courtesy of KDI)
PS: These photos were not taken on the new camera.
PPS: Please feel free to make suggestions if there are experiments you’d like me to try on your behalf. I promise to seriously consider all such requests.
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