What's your plan for your day off?

Saturday and Sunday are my day off. I realize that some people have to work weekends, but I Iove my job where I get two days off in the row with the kids.

Today, I plan on cooking and reading/skimming two cookbooks I got from the library. I belong to a couple plant based FaceBook groups that I love to follow. Some folks have been raving about a book by Isa Chandra Moskowitz called 'Isa Does It!", so I HAD to check it out.

I found that my library was able to get me two cookbooks by Isa:  'Isa Does It!' and Veganomicon, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook. I'm excited to see what recipes in her cookbooks qualify/fall under a Protective Diet (no oils, sugar or white flour) or if they can be modified to qualify.

At first glance, Isa Does It! looks like a wonderful book; it's 311 pages with beautiful pictures on almost every page. I have to admit, I'm a bit of a recipe hoarder. I love collecting healthy recipes that taste great. I'm always on a search to add something else to my binder or a new cookbook to my shelf. I try at least 4 new recipes each week. Some I like, others I don't. The ones that work, I keep; the others I'm ok with cutting ties with. Happy reading. . .

Friday - What's for lunch?

My Lunch: 

Friday's lunch was soup and salad. I like lunches that are easy to grab in the morning. I don't have a lot of extra time in the morning to put together my lunch and it's so much better for me to take my lunch than to try to find a healthy lunch eating out.

So for lunch I had the following

• Protective Diet Veggie Chili
• Salad made with romaine, spinach and cabbage, cucumbers, carrots
• Protective Diet - Daily Dressing
• Apple

PD Daily Dressing:

 I'm so glad I found Protective Diet (PD) , especially for yummy dressings for salad. Before I signed up for Protective Diet Premium Recipes, I searched for alternate dressings to make on my own that didn't have bad ingredients: soybean or other oil, sugar, etc. I hadn't found a dressing that I liked. So far I've tried two PD, the daily dressing and the French Dressing. They are both very, very tasty and healthy. I can't wait to try the others.

What I learned Today: 

I found that I ended up not taking enough for lunch today. I was really hungry in two hours and ate a tangerine. Then an hour later, I had a banana. I always make sure I have something healthy to snack on in my bag so I don't go grab a candy bar or anything else non-healthy from the vending machine at work. I'm still in the phase where I'm trying to figure out how much food I need to eat to feel me up. So for Monday, I'm definitely taking a larger lunch.

If you are new to Protective Diet, you have to create a login to see her yummy recipes. She has two types of recipes on the site: free and premium. I invite you to create a free login on the Protective Diet site to try her free healthy recipes. I'm confident that you will love them like me.

Here's my Breakfast

Here's my breakfast today: Steel cut oats, frozen mixed berries from Walmart and a PD Latte on the side. I need something that will keep me full until noon. I believe a 1/2 cup of oats will do the trick. What did you have today to start your day?

Good Morning, how do you like your chili?

I start my day out before 5 am each morning. I want at least an hour before the kids wake up to have some me time. I have a morning ritual that feels nice. I start some warm water and add lemon for a wonderful warm-me-up drink. I update myself on my facebook and email and then I do some yoga.

I've fallen into a yoga routine since May. I feel like I needed something slower past to gently warm my body in the morning. I used to try to do some high energy stuff in the morning, but I think after you turn 40, that isn't very excited. I just had no motivation to slip the DVD in.

I started with My Yoga Online. They've recently merged with GaiamTv. It's great to have my favorite instructors each morning for only $10. Some days I feel like Kundalini yoga; other mornings yin yoga. Some of my favorite instructors are Zain Saraswati Jamal, David Magone, Lindsay Lewis, Tommy Rosen, Melina Meza, Gurmukh, and Bernie Clark.

For dinner last night I made Protective Diet (PD) Veggie Chili. I've made it before and it was delicious. I threw the three types of beans that I had in the house, which are different than the ones listed on her recipe. It's a flexible recipe that will work with what type of beans you have on hand.The problem we have in my family is that my husband likes a thick chili (like stew) and I like a thin watery chili (like soup). So I made my chili thicker for my husband this time, which means I didn't like it as well. How do you like your chili?


Check out the chili recipe at Protective Diet Here: http://protectivediet.com/veggie-chili.html?affiliate=100

Until next time. .

How do I start out my day?

Most days I start out my day with oats. I eat either rolled oats or steel cut oats. I love that oats are heart healthy. I need something that will fill me up, so I can make it to lunch without my belly growling at my desk.

One easy way to cook my steel cut oats is by using my Instant Pot (which I LOVE!!!).

I find the biggest pain of cooking oats is watching it on the stove or microwave to make sure it doesn't boil over. I've solved this by using my Instant Pot. I put my oats in and leave it. I continue on with my morning tasks without having to babysit my oats.

Today, I'm trying a new method I found on Protective Diet. Julie has a Steel Cut Oats Recipe for the stove top. I invite you to give this a try also. I'm going to add in Mixed Berry Chia Seed jam with my oats. I can't wait.

How do you start your day?

Until next time. . .

Why did I start my journey to get healthier?

Why did I start? I started my journey to be healthy when the dr. suggested I might have thyroid problems. This was about a year and a half ago. That's when I started researching and making small changes.

What issues did I have when I started? I really wasn't a ton over weight. I weighed 20 lbs more than I do, but I guess that is a lot on a 5'1 frame. I wasn't feeling very well though. I was having problems with my lungs, so I was taking a daily medicine for that. I had really bad allergies and was taking a daily medicine for that. I think some of my other issues were side affects of the medicine. My immune system seemed to be in the tank. My body seemed really sore and creaky all the time. My digestion after eating bread and pizza was really bad. My neck and shoulders were so tight I was getting migraines and headaches a lot. My knees, ankles, knees and wrists were all issues. I was tired A LOT, so I was drinking lots of coffee. I couldn't sleep so I was using Melatonin every night.

I was maybe eating one fruit or vegetable each day. I wasn't feeling good, so it was time to change.

How did I start? I started just adding juices or smoothies in the morning to my breakfast. It was a small change, but at least I was getting more fruit and veggies into my diet.

Then, I started doing more salads at lunch and cutting back on my caffeine. I next started with cutting out white milk, bread, and pizza. My digestion started getting back on track. I wasn't feeling sluggish and bloated after eating, I was feeling great.

I then went on to reducing the amount of processed foods that I was eating. No more boxed foods, canned soups and frozen lunches. This caused me to cook a lot more. I was spending more time in the kitchen making foods, but it was fun.

My first Challenge: In October, I did the October Unprocessed Challenge. This was great and challenging at the same time. I didn't realize all the hidden sugar in simple things like ketchup, dressings, and other foods you don't expect to find sugar. While the month was hard, I continued eating like this thru November.

Online Resources and Books: During that time I started reading The Starch Solution, How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease and other books. I started adding in more plant based foods right away. I found that plant based foods are filling and satisfying. I love listening to the YouTube videos by Chef AJ. She eventually lead me to finding Protective Diet, which I am doing now. The neat thing is that this is not a diet. It's a way of life to protect yourself from disease, which is ultimately my goal.

How I feel now: I can say that I seriously feel 100% better than I did before. I didn't realize how bad I was feeling. I don't have problems with my joints, my digestion, migraines or headaches anymore. These issues just disappeared. I sleep great now without any help of Melatonin or other sleep aids. I have stopped my daily lung medicine, since I don't seem to have any issues with my lungs anymore. I also think my skin and my hair have changed. I'm am excited about continuing this journey in health.

Protective Diet Journey

Since my November post, I've done lots of reading and researching. I've found that I really like Protective diet recipes. So I've decided to blog about these exciting new recipes as I try them.

I've been subscribing to Protective Diet for about a month. I first started with a free login to review her recipes. I tried some and I really liked the taste of her recipes and her helpful videos. About two weeks ago, I signed up for a premium subscription. I love that she is your coach thru this journey to be healthy. She spends many hours each week making recipes for the group that are healthy and tasty. I've been getting a newsletter each week with at least one new recipe. There is a PD Interactive support group meeting online each Tuesday night and a coaching hour each Saturday morning.

Today, I made Baked Apples for breakfast. I added these warm yummy apples to rolled oats, cinnamon, and soy milk. It was a wonderful warm breakfast for this cold Michigan morning. These apples are so tasty, I'm going to make them every week.

For lunch, I had beans and brown rice with some fruit on the side.

For dinner, I was in the mood for pasta, so I tried Guiltless Baked Mac n Cheese. It sure is a wonderful recipe. The kids weren't super excited about it, but that could have been because of the parsley and onions. I love that once you follow the list of PD items to stock in your pantry. you can make lots of PD friendly meals just with only a couple fresh ingredients each week. I had greens on the side of my mac n cheese to make it a complete meal. I had leftovers, so I already have my lunch packed for tomorrow.

Until next time,


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