Wednesday, March 28, 2007

I had a request to explain how I incorporate the alkaline diet into my lifestyle. To be honest, I am still learning about it but it has not been a hard transition as I have been changing my habits for a while now. I'll tell you what I do and what I don't do. I am lucky that I have a husband who supports me and doesn't mind the changes. I have some friends who tell me their husband would never eat this or that and who make a big deal about changes.

First I will tell you what I don't buy. I never but pop, chips, donuts, or junk food of any kind. I do get those things on occasion for a camp out though. Normally, they are never to be found. I never buy white bread. I have been buying whole grain bread for so long that my kids don't even know the difference. I am now buying Winder dairy bread and it has no preservatives or anything yucky in it. I never buy crackers or gold fish anymore because those things have terrible stuff in them. The only "junk food" I have in my house is corn or tortilla chips to eat with salsa and cold cereals like wheat chex and bran flakes. My kids don't complain because I don't give them a choice. They can go hungry if they prefer.

I do buy tons of snacks that I love. I am not rigid about what they eat in the house like I am with myself but I only make available to them the things I want them to have. Like right now, I have apples, plums, grapefruit, bananas, cantaloupe, honeydew, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and a huge salad with lots of good veggies in it in the fridge. I only make salads with Green or red leafy lettuce. I never use iceberg lettuce. That is a complete waste of money in my opinion. I have green onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and anything else I feel like in my salad so no matter when I am home, if I am hungry, I have salad to eat at least. I always keep soaked almonds in the fridge. They are wonderful and really fill me up.

Fruit should not be eaten with any other food as it needs to be digested alone to get it's full benefits. I love eggs and they are not as acidifying as other proteins so I frequently have them.

For dinner last night we had baked potatoes and a huge salad. At first, I thought I had to add a lot of other fillers to keep everyone happy like pasta or biscuits (since I don't cook meat as often) but have found that everyone gets full on the salad a potatoes! I have also found that my kitchen is so much cleaner without all the meat mess. Weird.

I had heard in the past that you should only combine certain foods. I thought it was a bunch of baloney! It's not after all. Meant need a very acidic environment to digest and usually do that in the stomach. Most veggies need an alkaline environment to digest and that is usually done in the small intestine. When you combine these food, it slows down the digestion of both an causes fermentation and putrefication of the food. This in turn causes a lot of gas and acid reflux.

Since I have been watching what foods I combine, I have almost no gas and that gas I do have never smells!! Believe it or not! and I never have heartburn anymore.

The foods you can combine in a good way are:

Non-starchy with carbs (that's like salad and pasta)
Non-starchy with proteins
Non- starchy with fats

Combine SPARINGLY:

proteins and fats
fats and carbs

eat fruits on their own and never combine if you can help it, proteins and carbs.

Now this cannot always be avoided, just be careful about it.

I am not anal about this . A couple of nights ago I was so tired, it was 6 pm and I had started nothing so I just made pancakes. I truly believe if I follow this way of eating, I will be much better for it. I already am but I do not beat myself up when I eat something I "shouldn't" I just start over. I Do allow myself a treat once in a while of the old things I love like ice cream or chips etc... but it is few and far between.

There was something else I was going to say but I can't remember what it was. Oh, If there is something you don't really like and think , "I could never switch to that" YES YOU COULD! It's all about habits. Like switching to skim. You get to where you like it, then prefer it. I didn't used to like wheat bread. I had to force myself to eat it but I had to since I had quit buying white! Be disciplined! You can do it it! Be firm with yourselves and your kids and explain the whys to them so they are on board. They will get used to it too. You will feel so good.

6 comments:

Jeri said...

after I read the last post - I started reading about the diet and to be honest, my initial reaction is this - No wonder you lost 4 lbs - you can't eat anything good!

I really believe that I need to change the way I'm eating/living. I believe that a main contributor to the rampant heath problems in our society (mental problems like ADHD and depression included) is related to our crummy diet! I just don't have the willpaower and discipline to change!

What to do what to do.... I'm proud of you Melissa - keep it up!

hi, it's me! melissa c said...

Ya know, the funny thing is, I think all these things ARE good. I like these foods. Some have taken time to get used to but I can actually say, I love the food I eat. That wasn't true in the beginning.

Jeri said...

most of the stuff you listed - I like. It was the stuff I was reading about on the website(s) that sent me into the YUCK mode. (example: it listed potatoes as something to avoid and one sample menu I found had you eating brocoli for breakfast. It aslo said to eat Kale a lot, and I don't like the flavor of kale. as I read through some sample alkaline recipes, they sounded yucky too...)
I AM having a salad for my lunch today - and we only eat wheat bread - which is rising right now. that was another thing - it said even wheat bread wasn't the best choice - only non-yeast, sprouted grains, bread.

I think I'm going to have to just be satisfied with eliminating SOME of the worst things and hoping for the best. I'm sure it would help with my bouts of depression if I could go more gung-ho with it, but hey, something is better than nothing right?

hi, it's me! melissa c said...

Yes mam! That is what I do. I am not totally gung ho either. I just do my best and that is all I can do.

hi, it's me! melissa c said...

For anyone who still may read this, I have found that different sites will disagree on the acidity or alkalinity of foods.

That has been a frustration for me but I feel that if I eat the healthiest I can, I am doing great. I don't eat sprouted bread or other weird stuff but I do eat mostly fruits and veggies and I figure my mood and body will tell me if I am doing enough.

Lisa M. said...

Give me a Big Mac and a Diet Cola, that has worked so good for me, thus far.

*SMIRK*