The Plan, Inflammation and Attitude

So, The Plan by Lyn-Genet Recitas, is an "eating plan" (code for "diet") that helps you determine which foods cause you inflammation, a response that contributes to not only weight gain but a host of other health issues. As you know, I am on a mission to reduce inflammation due to my brothers experience with quadruple bypass surgery back in March, as well as our family history with heart disease.

So yesterday was Day 1 of The Plan and so far it has revealed to me an inflammatory bad attitude towards food. Day 1 is a detox day of eating a lot of healthy whole foods. What's wrong with that? Well I'm learning that I don't like being told exactly what to eat, when and to limit my salt. I didn't think I was rebellious but I'm certainly feeling like I am. I have been talking myself in and out of following The Plan throughout the whole day, but.......

I did it! I muscled through Day 1, lived and lost a pound. I ate this for lunch:

Mixed Greens w/Pear and Pumpkin Seed, Steamed Broccoli, and Carrot Mocktail

It was decent. I won't lie and say that I loved it. It was decent. What I wanted to do was sprinkle a mini snow storm of Celtic Sea Salt all over everything, but I didn't. I'd love it all with plenty of Celtic Sea Salt on it. I have an old blog post devoted to the attributes of Celtic Sea Salt and why some nutritionists consider it a health food. Although I wanted to very much so, I complied. And lived.

So that lovely looking Carrot Mocktail is a tip/trick that really helped me out with this lunch. It's supposed to be "soup" but it's not my kind of soup. It's not creamy-boy was I tempted to pour a bunch of coconut milk in it, it wasn't fatty, and it had NO salt. I've heard from seasoned Plan followers that nobody really likes it. I would have followed this advise except that I had already made a huge batch of it in preparation since it comes up in several preceding menu plans. I had it in a giant canning jar in the fridge. I decided to add ice and some flair and just call it a Mocktail. I actually enjoyed it which I hadn't expected to since my initial taste test of the Carrot Soup when it was hot was, "Ew, Ick!" My thoughts are that the flavors improved from "marinating" in the fridge together, and good old fashioned pretend play made it much more enjoyable. Knowing this, I'll make it much spicier next time!

The recipe called for a "drizzle" of orange oil over the Steamed Broccoli, and by "drizzle", it they meant "douse" or "dunk", then I did really well with that! It's Extra Virgin Olive Oil with fresh orange zest that's sat in there long enough to infuse good flavor. I took liberties to add a crushed garlic clove and some purple basil from my garden. Later I poured it through a sieve and bottled the oil. Please, I do so deserve a pat on the back for not putting a big pinch of salt in there. And I learned that there are amazing health benefits from citrus zest and will likely be using it much more.

Orange Oil

For dinner I had this:

 Kale & Shiitake Saute w/ Spicy Coco Sauce and Shaved Carrot Beet Salad

Surprisingly the star of this dinner is that vibrant salad of beets and carrots. It got a nice bath of Orange Oil and sprinklings of Kelp and Dulse Flakes which mimic salt. So YAY! Almost salty. The Kale was fine, the shiitakes were nice, and the Spicy Coco Sauce was fantastic because I amped up all of the spices it called for and simmered it forever! By "forever" I mean while I short order cooked another meal for TrueLove and Jake.

The challenge was getting all of this goodness inside me before 7:30. I really wanted hot tea at 7:45 and had a little pout about not getting to have a healthy drink whenever I wanted, but I did it! I finished the day strong! Understanding the reason I am doing this is to determine which foods cause me inflammatory reactions. Every body is different. I know-big revelation! So this "diet" ends up looking a lot more like a science experiment and the mad scientist of it all figured out that drinking after 7:30 taints the results of the experiment. (The people pleaser in me just thought that all of my natural weird food eating buddies would freak a little at the no drinking after 7:30 if I didn't explain.)

So far so good! Day 1 taught me that I have an inflammatory reaction to strict diets and eating plans. I am creative, I like doing my own things, I know a enough about nutrition to cop an i'manexpertiknowbetter attitude when new concepts arise (especially about salt and tea at night), and on a lighter note, I have much more self discipline than I thought. Also, that my health and fierce fight against inflammation have me convinced that the information I am looking for is worth the headache. ( I had a headache from lack of salt, I mean caffeine. I forgot to take Feverfew, the magic herb that prevents this.) Yes, worth the headache.

and for crying out loud! I'm making a big fuss out of a 3 day detox phase. And I'm already 1/3 done!!!

now for Day 2....