Praxis II: PLT Test & Pomegranate Paradise with Raspberries

I took the Praxis II: Principles of Teaching and Learning test this morning. I feel like I did pretty well on it. I tried to pace myself so that I would have time to look over my 70 multiple choice answers and 4 constructed response questions at the end, and I had just enough time to do that.  Then I treated myself by going to Jamba Juice and ordering Pomegranate Paradise with raspberries instead of strawberries. It is sooo delicious! Especially for someone who loves raspberries as much as I do.

Cody picked me up after that. He'd already done the cleaning, so that leaves me with...planning for school? Reading The Hobbit? We'll see.

LEMONS!!

I got to introduce lemons back into my diet again.  Accordingly, my lunch salad (spinach, avocado, green onion, and pear) were drenched with half a lemon.  My salmon tonight will be similarly seasoned.  So far no reaction from eating lemons. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Salmon and Jamba Juice are the best!

After some okay creations for breakfast, lunch, and dinner yesterday, I looked up smoothies at Jamba Juice to see if there were any I could eat, without changing anything. And there is!  It's the Tropical Harvest and it's a seasonal smoothie.  Cody and I went there last night for our date and I ordered a power size of Tropical Harvest (it lasted me until 2 o'clock today).  Cody did inform me afterword that I could make substitutions in the other smoothies--i.e. instead of strawberries, ask for raspberries.  Well, now that I know that, I know exactly how I'm going to treat myself after I take the Praxis II: PLT test on Saturday.

Like I mentioned, my Jamba lasted me till about 2 today. I also ate my leftovers of my curry-rice-onion-broccoli-carrot dinner.  But after sitting through four hours of General Conference, I had a headache (probably from looking at a screen too long?).  Cody and I drove around, walked around a park, and then came home. My headache had abated somewhat, but it didn't really go away until I made dinner: romaine and spinach salad with grapes, green beans, and salmon. Mmm-mmm, Costco definitely has the tastiest salmon I've ever had.  I've figured out which days this week I'll eat salmon for dinner since I only have five fillets left.

This really is one of the hardest things I've ever done.  I hope I never have to do it again.

Breakdown and salmon

I delayed getting out of bed by about an hour this morning because I didn't want to figure out what I was going to eat for breakfast.  I ended up making a blackberry smoothie, nothing exciting.  For lunch I revamped my dinner leftovers from last night by making a green curry for it and cooking some brown rice to go with my vegetables.  It was alright but not what I was wanting--cheese.  I had some peaches, too.

After going to the temple with Cody, we stopped by Costco to pick up some quinoa and salmon for me (because on the wholelifenutrition.net website in their question and answer page, it stated that an athlete can introduce salmon into their diet during phase one, and while I'm not an "athlete" anymore, I need more protein and iron than from a vitamin and spinach, especially since I can't have beans), and croissants for him.    Once we got home I got down on myself about how hard this diet is.  I like my normal diet--eat what I like, but not too much.  This diet is very restrictive right now and that's hard for me.  However, Cody got me through and we found some positives in this situation.

Then, for dinner, I had a delicious spinach and romaine salad with cucumbers, avocado, and freshly baked salmon.  It was the first time I left the table feeling full this week. For dessert, I baked some apples with cinnamon on them.  Now I get to enjoy my book, Ender's Game, on a fully satisfied stomach.

Phase 1...Officially :)

Today started the first day of Phase 1--some fruits, some vegetables, still no meat, still no flour or grains of any kind except quinoa.  I've decided I couldn't be a vegan by choice because I really miss cheese and eggs.  Here is an official list of what I can and should not eat at this point in the anti-inflammatory diet.  It'll be this list until next Tuesday; then I can add lemons and limes.

In addition to eating solid foods today, the weather has been gorgeous so Cody and I had a picnic for lunch.  I finished two books for school--a mummy kids book and Frindle--and started Ender's Game.  I hope tomorrow is just as beautiful as it was today. Then I can have another picnic!

What I ate today:
-quinoa with cinnamon and blueberries for breakfast (later for a snack I added some blackberries)
-spinach and romaine lettuce with cucumbers and avocado slices
-onion, broccoli, garlic, and carrot concoction
-sweet potato fries
-sunflower seeds

Day 2: Green Smoothies & I gave in...

After one whole day of just liquids comprised mostly of blended up spinach I went to bed last night really missing solid foods.  However, I do have one day left of this fun, so here's what I've concocted today.

BREAKFAST
one mango
three slices of peaches
handful of spinach
six ice cubes
1/4 cup water
Taste: not bad, MUCH better than my dinner one last night. That one started out good and then I was cringing as I finished it.
Texture: medium thickness and foamy
Recommendations: none

LUNCH
1 cup carrots
handful of spinach
1 cup water
minced onion
pepper and salt
Taste: carrot soup with spinach...I like plain carrot soup better
Texture: thick
Recommendations: make sure all the carrots are blended and don't add garlic powder again

At 3:40 I decided I would take a nap because I was kind of tired (even though I got 9 hours of sleep last night). I woke up at 5. Guess I was more tired than I thought.  Since I was feeling worse after my nap than I had before my nap, I made the decision to start eating solid foods again tonight.  Since doing that, I've had more energy than I've had all day.  I've actually worked on things for school and did the dishes.  My almost-headache went away (oh, yeah, I had a little headache just before my nap).  I'm feeling good, especially since I realized I can make sweet potato fries!

DINNER
1 cup cooked quinoa flakes
little bit of honey
five thawed slices of frozen peaches
handful of purple grapes

Day 1: Green Smoothies

Following the recommendation of my chiropractor, I've started an anti-inflammatory diet that lasts about 28 days.  While there are a lot of health benefits of doing this diet, I'm doing it to see if any of the foods I've been eating for years are some triggers to my frequent headaches.  It starts as an elimination diet and then adds foods back in to see if their is any kind of inflammatory reaction.

It started today. I can only consume green smoothies today and tomorrow in an effort to detox the body, to "calm the immune system and clear the gut" as it says on my information sheet. I've been drinking water like crazy in addition to my green smoothies. These are my concoctions for today:

BREAKFAST
1 gala apple
handful of spinach
half a can of pears
two ice-cubes
about 1/2 cup of water
Taste: mostly like apples
Texture: medium to thick and foamy
Recommendations: add more water next time and some cinnamon

LUNCH
the other half can of pears
third of a large can of peaches
handful of spinach (more than this morning)
two ice cubes
about a cup of water
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
Taste: peachy-cinnamon flavor
Texture: medium foamy, medium thickness
Recommendations: buy some more fruit at the store this afternoon

DINNER
half a cucumber
spinach
triple mix berries (about 1/4 cup)
about 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup of cooked rice
2 ice cubes
Taste: not bad...berry/rice-y
Texture: thinner than earlier with something to actually chew (rice)
Recommendations: take out the cucumber seeds next time

I'm really looked forward to eating solid foods again. Wednesday can't come soon enough!