Lost 12 pounds in 7 weeks,….so far
I visited Mercedes to give her my baby kombucha to share with all of you and we spoke about sharing our experiences on a blog. I told her I’d start to write, so here goes.
One thing I saw that was obvious in Flip Flop class is how like sponges, we were so eager to learn from each other. We not only wanted new information from Mercedes but we wanted to share each others experiences from our past week on the diet and learn any little secrets from each other to hopefully add to our next week regime. We also didn’t want the class to stop because the support, learning and sharing from each other gave us the motivation and commitment to continue towards our goal of learning to live a healthier lifestyle.
I’ll start by sharing my first week and each week in chapters…
Chapter 1, First week at Flip Flop class. After class I immediately went home and started cleaning out my pantry and refrigerator. Any food that was not in the diet, I gave to my neighbor, he was the happiest guy on the block because I had just made a Costco run and bought tons of food in bulk, and he was short on money and short on food, so it was a win win.
That night, I stayed most of the night reading the handouts from the Flip Flop class and the Nourishing Traditions book. I wanted to make sure I gained as much information so that I could go shopping the next day and buy all the food I needed to start the diet right away.
Luckily with Flip Flop class on Monday night, I remembered there is a Farmers Market at Whole Foods on Tuesday mornings, so picked up as much of the ingredients I could to start the diet from the market and Whole Foods that day.
Then stopped by Costco on the way home. Instead of buying food at Costco, I went there and bought glass containers to store food in and glass beverage containers to store the cran juice in. Also bought the Cuisanart food processor to make the sauerkraut. I stayed away from the food isles and of course very far from the wine isles.
Came home went online to order a kombucha mushroom, then continued to clean the pantry and refrigerator and started making my first batch of sauerkraut and chicken broth.
My secrets that helped me in the first week were:
1. Mix the cran water with Kombucha and half juice from lemon, drink every am.
2. Eat the ground flax with apple sauce, that helped to get it down.
3. Try to eat fermented food before or with every meal. I included sauerkraut, kim chi and also used kefir instead of yogurt to make sure I kept of the good bacteria for the gut.
4. I bought all my greens from the farmers market and cooked them with the coconut oil, yummy!
5. I went to Kmart to find the Ball Mason jars. I use the small ones to store items like sea salt, flax seeds in and I used the large ones to store and freeze extra amounts of chicken broth, and to ferment and store my sauerkraut in. I found chicken feet at a Chinese market. They sell a huge bag so boiled them all up one night and split the broth up into four small mason jars. I store the chicken feet broth in my freezer and add a jar to each batch of chicken broth I make.
6. For the chicken broth, I took out the chicken after about an hour or two, deboned it and threw the bones back in the allow it to simmer overnight. Then I had the chicken to use in my salads.
7. I made my chicken broth into a “Citrusy Chicken soup”. That way I could drink the soup for lunch and it was a complete meal for me. Mercedes has a copy of the recipe.
8. So far the only place I found that sells lacto fermented sauerkraut is Confluence Kitchen. I hear they also have chicken feet and kombucha mushroom available. I learned from the owner who is my neighbor that his recipes are taken directly from the Nourishing Traditions book. He uses chicken feet in his chicken stock which is the base for most of his foods so if you don’t like to cook, you can easily stay on the diet buying some of his pre-made meals.
9. I found the kombucha at Raley’s/Belair/Whole Foods and Sunrise Natural Foods near others bottle labels Synergy.
10. Be careful when you open the first bottle of kombucha. Be near a sink or outside and do not shake it! When you open it, it sometimes explodes and half you bottle of kombucha is gone before you know it!
11. I make a killer homemade salad dressing. For dinner I usually ate a salad with chicken or leftover fish in it with this dressing:
a. Julie’s garlic feta Caesar salad dressing
i. 1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar
ii. ½ cup olive oil
iii. 2-3 cloves roasted garlic
iv. 1 tablespoon flax oil
v. 2-3 anchovies
vi. 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
vii. Blend the above then add 1-2 T feta cheese at the very end
viii. Store in glass container, stays good for ~2 weeks
12. For items that you want fresh but only need small amounts, I use the food saver bags and freeze small amounts of herbs and other items in freezer bags. For example I roast large quantities of garlic and then freeze them in small amounts in bags. Then I have roasted garlic anytime a dish calls for it! I do this for fresh herbs, roasted garlic, anchovies (found at whole foods).
13. I almost forgot the most important thing. I completely got off coffee and alcohol. The first week was hard, I got headaches from detoxing and quitting coffee, but I just kept drinking lots of fluids bought a coffee substitute to help with the transition and got thru it. Also, socially, we meet with a group that drinks beer after a bike ride. Instead of beer, I bring my bottle of kombucha and I find that the kombucha is as or more satisfying than a beer, so now I know I can still be social and drink my kombucha and stay on track!
That was my first week. Its took about 3-4 days before my kitchen was ready and the broth and food made to be able to start the diet, but the preparation time is well worth it. Once your kitchen is ready and you have most of the ingredients prepared, it goes easier after that.
Good luck and to your health! Julie Cheng
Comments on this entry are closed.