Day 15 - How Green is My Diet!

"And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground -- everything that has the breath of life in it -- I give every green plant for food." And it was so. Genesis 1: 30

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

I had my weekly appointment with Dr. Ford this morning. Although he hadn't yet received the results of my bloodwork, we visited about the diet so far. And some of the symptoms that have been relieved, or new ones which have cropped up, such as waking up in the morning with severe leg cramps. Standing upright helps, but this morning I had to sleep in the chair, the cramps worsened when I was lying down.

Thus he prescribed a regimen of magnesium capsules to be taken daily.

This is not any surprise. To give Dr. Ford as clean a slate as possible to work with, I had weaned myself from all supplements before starting the program. I have not been on any medications, so it was merely a matter of stopping the multi-vitamins and other "health enhancers" which friends had suggested for my various symptoms. Fish oil. Garlic. Biotin. Iron. A handful of tabs and caps each morning, all done away with for now.

So when the last of them had left my system, and my body was allowed to react naturally, it responded with a magnesium deficiency made evident by the leg cramps.

I had been on the cleansing diet for a week by this time, and there were a few things I wanted to clarify. And was rewarded with GOOD NEWS! I could add AVOCADOES, SNOW PEAS and CUCUMBERS to the green veggies list. Just those three additions would add a world of flavor and texture to my meals. Avocadoes are creamy, snow peas are sweet, and cucumbers crunchy.

I immediately made my way to the produce department at the nearest grocery store.

So lunch was a tasty super-sized salad of leafy greens, avocado, turkey breast, diced peaches, cucumber slices, red onion, celery, and a few chopped cherries for extra color, tossed and dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar.

And dinner that night? Stir-fried beef with celery, red onions and snow peas.

But I still had to wait on the test results. Still had to endure the not knowing what internal enemies we were arming me to do battle with. Still walk in faith that all would be well -- will be well -- and keep discouragement at bay.

The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Ecclesiastes 7: 8