I few days ago I asked KimLeneghan Facebook followers their thoughts for Week 11. Back in January I had written the whole 12 weeks out, however, as the challenges progressed some of the weeks changed with my mood.
Week 10 Gluten Free nearly kicked my butt. No it did kick my butt. If you missed how that one almost killed my spirit, check out that post here. HOWEVER, as luck would have it my husband who barely did any of these with me despite saying he was “all in” and “they’re all easy” barely made it day 5 of Week ONE No Alcohol but loved Gluten Free!!
Yep! You read that right. Loved It!
“I slept great, especially last night (day 7) and I’ve lost 6 pounds!”
“I think this is what I need to do to lose weight. I never realized how much pasta, bread and gluten full products I ate!”
So when I asked his opinion on Week 11, without hesitation he blurted out “A Smoothie Everyday”. I initially laughed at him and asked him if he was serious. Not because we don’t drink smoothies, but quite the opposite. He makes me a smoothie 4 if not 5 days out of the week.
When I questioned his thought process regarding this “challenge”, he was looking for me to give him more smoothie recipes since he does typically make me the same smoothie everyday….for the past 2 years. (I actually have other frozen fruit in the freezer, but daily he doesn’t look past the wild frozen blueberries).
So look for daily smoothie recipes or links next week on my Facebook page.
As for the No Dairy. That’s all me.
This winter has been one for the records in my family with a myriad of colds. With another one sprouting up in the 18 month old this morning and hubby announcing he’s off to nasal rinse again; a sure sign he’s still fighting off the cold he got back in January.
There’s something about dairy and the respiratory system. Before I go further, I’m not one of those Not Milk crazies that talk about how “we’re the only animals that drink milk as an adult”. The last time I checked we’re also the only animals that cook our food and can turn grains into delicious baked goods. I think it was quite smart of us thousands of years ago to say “hey look at that giant thing over there. If we kill it, we can only feed our people for a few days, however, if we milk it, the nourishment lasts a lot longer”.
With that being said, my asthma and COPD patients typically get the “cut back” on dairy lecture. And although the science seems to be skewed depending on whose funding the research, I can tell you it worked for me.
Prior to having kids, I was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease (RAD). It’s just a fancy term to describe when a common cold turns into asthma and lasts 3 months or so. My post college roommate can a test that it seemed like I was always coughing.
Welcome 2nd child to the mix and this child was miserable with gas. Turns out this exclusively breastfed infant was extra uber sensitive to what I ate. By month 3 I had removed ALL DAIRY from my diet. Not only could I not enjoy lasagna but if I ate at a restaurant even without ordering something with cheese I still paid for it at night with a miserable, cranky little boy. Turns out he was even sensitive to the butter that I’m pretty sure is a requirement for all restaurant chefs to use.
Ultimately the sacrifice was completely worth it. He started sleeping through the night by 4 months, no longer writhing in discomfort and oddly enough my RAD faded away too like a weak toot. Now when I get a cold, I have it a few weeks longer than others but not months. But I’m also consuming dairy too. (Now that I think about it, hubby during No Gluten week really upped his cheese intake and his cold is back……hmmmm?????)
The other thing that was very eye opening to me was eating out. Not the butter thing I mentioned above. But the limited choices at certain restaurants that contain NO cheese. I remember one restaurant in particular had 3 pages full of menu choices, had to be a minimum of 50 entree selections, I could only order 2.
I’m sure during Week 11 that starts March 20th through the 26th I’ll be dreaming of mint chocolate chip ice cream and stuffed shells. But that’s ok. It’ll give my respiratory system a chance to decompress.
Dairy can also be a pro inflammatory food which can make joints, think arthritis, exacerbate flare ups. (Not necessarily CAUSE pain, but make it worse).
I would love to know which Challenge you’ll be picking: No Dairy or Daily Smoothie or Both. Comment below and let me know what foods you’ll be missing OR your favorite smoothie recipe.
Hugs, Kim
Recent Comments