Saturday 7 January 2012

A change in breakfast routine

Good morning on this wonderful sunny Saturday morning in January. Here I am feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to enjoy another day. Following on from yesterday, the Anti Cancer book by Dr David Servan - Schreiber, it has made me think more about what I put into my body. The book isn't just for people who have already been diagnosed with cancer, it's for everyone who wants to adjust their diet to cut back on cancer promotors, and include the greatest number of foods that help prevent and actively fight tumours.

Now I'm not about to become obsessed by food nutrition and healthy living, I just want to do the best for my body, to give it a fighting chance of serving me well. I'm not going to make any drastic changes to my diet based on what I read, but I want to incorporate some of the ideas, and introduce them gradually to see what happens.

There are a lot of videos on yoootube, posted by people who have an interest in raw vegan food, something which I want to try. They all say how much better they feel within themselves, how alive and full of energy they are. I am pretty much heading in that direction, but I feel there is still more I can do, so I'm going to make a start.

It will be little steps at first, replacing some of my meals with raw food. I have always loved crunchy fruit and veg, but now I have a problem with chewing, it takes me ages to get through an apple, because most of my back teeth on the lower jaw are missing. I do have a denture but it feels so horrible in my mouth and food gets stuck underneath it, so I don't wear it anymore. My missing teeth doesn't affect my appearance so I don't see any need to wear it.

Anyhow, let's get on, it's a sunny day and I want to get out. I found this book at the Christmas Fair last month and bought it for 50p. It's a bright and colourfull book with all you need to know about making smoothies and juices. An ideal solution to get more raw food down me.

So this morning I decided to change my normal routine of coffee and cereal, or toast, or porridge for breakfast, and go for a smoothie instead. I usually only have one mug of coffee a day, first thing after waking, and it always tastes great. So this is what I did this morning. One banana, one advocado (reduced price), chunks of fresh pineapple from the 20p prepared fruit pack, and a teaspoon of sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, golden linseeds, and a few walnuts.

Put it all in the pot with a splash of water, and whizzed it up with the new stick blender. This I got free of charge with my Tesco vouchers when it was the double up offer. A £20 blender for £10 vouchers. I must say it does the job very well. I had a cheaper stick blender before, and I couldn't clean it properly where the whizzer thingy goes up through the shaft. Horrible brown gunge came out because the seal wasn't very good and the food had seeped inside it. Yuk, it had to go.

The result..... I decided to leave the consistency thick so I could eat it with a spoon, and do you know it was surprisingly delicious. The banana was the prominent flavour, with hints of pineapple and advocado. When you eat it, it's best not to gulp it too quickly, but to swish it around your mouth so it mixes with your saliva, no chewing yipee. This is the start of the digestion process. See, I'm learning already, ha ha. I think I'll be making lots more smoothies and juices, I could get hooked on this.

All washed down with a mug of green tea. Yuk, this tastes horrible, so I put a splash of lemon in it. Still tastes horrible but I am going to stick with it. I don't like ordinary tea but I read somewhere that this green stuff is good for you.


I can't see me doing this every morning, just yet. Slow steps first, if I see an improvement in the way I feel, I might go to the next level and gradually increase my intake of raw foods. A little at a time I think. Have a nice weekend. Toodle pip.

24 comments:

  1. Love this post Ilona! Have you even thought of replacing the discomfort dentures for dental implants???!

    HNY 2012!

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  2. You really need some food colouring to make your gloop look more appetising ;@)

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  3. I can't stand green tea either, I used to drink a lot of the ordinary stuff but now have just one cup a day. I quite fancy smoothies but can't face the washing up!

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  4. All sounds like a great plan. I was given kefir grains for Christmas as one of my sons swears by kefir. I have got a batch started and am very interested in your smoothies. They are certainly packed full of very good food and NO additives; I really resent some manufacturer put stuff in my food when I dont know what it is. If you see Michael Pollan s book - they are good.
    I have tried so hard with green tea also. I dont like it but will persevere as you have inspired me to do.
    Keep us posted

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  5. I do my green tea iced...still doesn't taste good...am putting a stick blender on my wish list...the smoothie looks yummy...

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  6. Well, this new start is a good idea.
    I`ve started making my homemade yoghurts again, now we`re back from our trip. Lots of fresh fruit is added as well as linseeds and pumpkin seeds plus a drizzle of honey. I love this for my breakfast. If you hate the taste of the green tea, try adding a small teaspoon of honey. I got quite used to it. It`s not bad, actually. And the green tea is good to combat menapause symptoms and has anti-oxidents that fight cancer cells. So, you are on the right track with that.

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  7. Good morning, on the subject of green tea, I drink it all the time, only I use the leaves. just a tiny pinch into a teapot, and wait until it settles then pour, very light colour green and very pleasant, please try it, maybe a bit expensive, but lasts me for months. bye the way the blog is amazing, read it everyday, thanks

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  8. Re green tea, what about some honey or mint leaves whenever you can get them, failing that, hold your nose and knock it back. Dandelion tea is good too for detoxing and helping your liver, it's a hold your nose, knock it back one too though. I tried the liver cleansing diet at one point to help with allergies, tried all manner of different things. You'd start the day with warm water and some lemon juice, and then after that you'd put some carrot, celery and parsley through your juicer and have that, followed the plan and I felt terrific, more energy than I'd had in years, better moods etc. Here is a link about it, if you want to check it out further.

    http://www.liverdoctor.com/

    Books by Jason Vale, the Juice Master are worth a look too if you can find them at the library.

    http://www.juicemaster.com/shop.html

    I think you do a terrific job with your eating habits, you put me to shame. So hats off to you that you are going further with it and doing the juicing and smooties etc. You'll definitely feel the benefits for sure. Good Luck with it all. Look forward to hearing how you get on with it all. Cheers for now, Christy.

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  9. I am addicted to my juicer, bought to deal with our surplus apples, but I juice loads of different stuff now. Yoghurt makes a nice base for other extras.

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  10. I've got a juicer attachment but there's a lot of waste and a lot of mess to clean up as it's difficult to get pulp off the sides. I sometimes make smoothies with a blender and put berries, grapes, apples, oranges, with some joghourt. It makes a hell of a noise though.

    There is a website for raw food but I don't know if I could go that far!

    Green tea - ughhhhhhhhh! Hate it.

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  11. I love smoothies; my favourite is banana, avocado, a few basil leaves and apple juice.
    But I also like green tea!

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  12. I think you are right to take it slowly and the way you ate your breakfast is a good idea too. A few years ago I tried an all raw vegan diet with yucky consequences - let's just say a need to change ALL my bedding at 2am ...........

    Green tea - yuk! Black tea is actually good for you as well - you could try the rooibos versions that naturally have no caffeine.

    Dental implants are very expensive but a decent fitting denture should be achievable although you may have to try several NHS dentists to get what you need - not all NHS dentistry is stuck in the middle ages.

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  13. When you learn to make yogurt, try yogurt in your smoothie.

    My smoothie: 1/2 yogurt, 1 banana, 5 strawberries, 5 chunks frozen mango, 1/4 cup oj. Of course, sometimes I add blueberries or pitted cherries.

    I don't like like cantaloupe or those kinds of melons. Exbf liked melon and strawberries with the yogurt and oj. He hated bananas.

    A blogger showed a green smoothie with fruit and some spinach or something. She called it a Shrek smoothie so her girls would drink it.

    When I had a cantaloup or honeydew (both round melons), I would chunk it and freeze it for his smoothie. Otherwise, I would never have had melons for him. That way, I could use a melon for a long time.

    Chunky smoothie?--does not compute...lol. Actually, sometimes, even using a blender, my smoothie is more lumpy than smooth.

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  14. That is 1/c yogurt. Of course, you can use more or less of anything. I never measure. Cantaloupe--I can spell.

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  15. Can I get this right? 1/2 cup yogurt

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  16. Sounds like an excellent eating plan Ilona. How does a healthy, largely raw diet compare cost-wise with your usual diet? It's something I'd be interested in changing to if I it was do-able cost-wise.

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  17. Well, whaddya know Ilona. You just made me go out and buy some more sunflower and pumpkin seeds. I'm also going to start making muesli again, as the bought stuff's so full of powder. Also lots of sugar in it and OH has to watch the sugar intake.

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  18. Way to go Ilona, I've been vegan for 2 years and have never regretted it - I try to eat lots of raw stuff but, because I batch cook & freeze so that I always know I have a nutricious vegan meal to hand even when I'm too busy to cook properly, I don't always get all the raw I should. However, sprouting your own seeds is a cheap and easy way to make sure you always have lots of healthy salad to hand.

    I'm well impressed with your plan & always enjoy your varied blogging topics.

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  19. Good for you Campfire, you're right, there is too much sugar in the ready made muesli.

    Hi Linda. I don't intend spending any extra money, I shall just eat whatever I have whether raw or cooked. Now that I am going to do more smoothies I can pick up the reduced veg and fruit which I wouldn't normally buy. It will give me a much wider choice knowing I can blend it. For instance I don't like chewing oranges so I don't buy them. I can blend them to a mush and they will be easy to eat. I don't like green cabbage cooked, but it will blend perfectly so I will start eating it.

    Yes PP, I have been looking for a yogurt maker, I reckon that would be the easiest way to do it, rather than buting a thermometer and two stainless steel containers.

    Hi Cosmic. I haven't thought of dental implants, too expensive, I don't want to go through the pain, and is it worth it if my lack of teeth can't be seen. Maybe if I was twenty I might consider it, but I'll manage with what I've got, hoping they last me till I die.

    Campfire I know what you mean about cleaning your appliance, they can get a bit messy, that's why I went for the stick blender. I eat my smoothie straight out of the jug with a spoon, and wash the stick under the tap as soon as I have licked it almost clean.

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  20. Lol, another book I must find. I love smoothies so this is music to my ears.
    That was a really healthy breakfast Ilona.

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  21. So are you giving up coffee? I Hope I never have to give up my coffee! Raw foods just don't agree with me but maybe as a smoothy I could tolerate them. Thanks for the idea. It looks delicious!

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  22. I dislike plain green tea but jasmine green tea or lemon grass ginger green tea is delicious--hot or iced with sweetener.

    For dessert I often make a smoothie in warm weather and prefer to eat it with a spoon. One of my favorites is mango, plus plain yogurt and water...it tastes like summer in a bowl--really it's a lassi I guess.

    You can make green smoothies too by adding spinach to some fruit--like a banana.

    I've read though that some foods are more easily digested and metabolized by our bodies if they are cooked--no need to cook to mush, just cook til tender crisp.

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  23. If you let the boiled water cool a little before you pour it on your green tea it tastes alot better.

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  24. MQ I notice that your green tea still has the teabag in it. (A proper Yorkshire brew!) With green tea it tastes better if the bag isn't left in for a long time. Too long and it goes bitter, but less strong and it is very refreshing. I heard the other day that the reason many studies promote the health benefits of green tea is that they are carried out in the far east, where green tea is the norm. Black tea has the same properties I believe, but because it is essentially a western way to drink tea there isn't as much research on it. I enjoy reading your blog and don't think your lifestyle needs too much tweaking. You eat healthily and take loads of exercise, don't smoke or drink (as far as I know) so you shouldn't be in bad shape to start with. The people who do all of these things (and there are plenty of them about) have a loooong way to go before they are up to your level.

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