Countdown to Flexitarianism

For reasons of health, and inpsired by the many carnivores I know who've recently gone vegan for health purposes, I have decided to officially become a flexitarian.

For those of you who don't know, this is basically an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet. However, two to three servings of meat per week are allowable, preferably fish or poultry. But even steak and bacon can be enjoyed guilt-free! (Well, not entirely guilt-free for me as I'm allergic to pork)

To help me along my path, I've joined a CSA and farm fresh produce will be delivered to my door. I've committed to one delivery/month to start. They recommended twice a month for a couple and I'm half as many people. I can always make that more frequent if necessary.

This week, I'm eating the two pounds of steak I had in the freezer and looking forward to getting those fun grains quinoa, bulgur and barley into my eating plan.

What I like best about this change is that I'm not thinking about it as a diet. I'm thinking about it as a lifestyle choice. That's a new perspective for me.

Of course, losing weight would be fantastic, but that's not the goal here. The goal is to eat healthier and be healthier.

If you have any yummy vegetarian recipes, I would love to hear about them. I will try to be good and blog about any yummy things I make as well as what's in my CSA delivery and what I make with it.

Change is exciting, and also delicious!

Almost Pain Free!

Wow! This homeopathic stuff really works. Not an overnight cure by any means, but definitely an improvement.

When I first started this process, I had serious pain in my leg. It hurt to do just about everything except lie down on my right side.

But since I started, I have noted a steady improvement. I usually didn't have any pain until the end of the work day and only had trouble standing during bell rehearsal on Wednesday nights or if I had to wait a long time for the bus.

But last night on the way home from work, I noticed only a little ache in my leg and it didn't bother me to stand and wait for the bus.

When I woke up this morning, I was sleeping on my left side which I haven't done since October.

I am supposed to continue the homeopathic treatment until I have been pain free for two months so I'm going to target my end date right now at April 21st (which will allow for some backsliding over my vacation).

Thanks to Aunt Jo for giving me the treatment book and to my masseuse Rocio for helping work out the kinks, literally.

I'm on the road to a full recovery!

Happy New Year!

Wow! It's been a while. But I'm back.

I don't really make New Year's Resolutions but I do think that the New Year is a good time to try something new. And so I have started a new regimen for my health.

I had been training for a half-marathon in Phoenix over MLK weekend. But I injured my shoulder in September and that threw my whole body out of whack with the injury settling in my leg. I developed an IT band strain and bursitis. Not fun. But, sadly, that required me to withdraw from the race.

I did everything my doctors suggested but wasn't getting over the pain. I needed to get off the drugs but the pre-Christmas cold snap made my pain worse.

Fortunately, my family loves me enough to help out in times like these. My aunt helped me find a homeopathic treatment. It required quite a few changes so I decided to start on New Year's Day.

I am no longer drinking alcohol, coffee or cola. I am eating one vegan meal every day. In addition to that, I have a whole list of herbals and vitamin supplements that I am taking. Plus two herbal treatments I can use externally.

A friend suggested that I document my improvement so I decided to do that here on my blog.

After one week - even without having all of the vitamins & herbals on hand just yet - I already notice an improvement. My pain is definitely less and goes away faster. My leg doesn't creak or click when I walk. And my co-worker asked me if I had lost weight! YAY!

The hard part is taking that many supplements every day.

But I am determined to give it a try for two months and see if I can be pain-free.

Stick around.