TimePeace - Musings by Cyndi

A wicked busy day. I’m exhausted. Only walked 2 1/2 miles in today outside, and probably couple of more up and down the hall at work, from my office to the bathroom, or from my office is the copy machine. My back has been achy all day. SI joint Needs to be adjusted badly. I realize that a lot of what I’ve been doing will be incorporated into a new norm, but I’m looking forward to bringing back in some of my old norm as well. Three more days. Smoothie: 2T SP Pro Complete, 1/2 mango, 1 cup Califia coconut milk. Breakfast: 5 large roasted asparagus and 3oz Lake Michigan lake trout. Lunch: 1 cup Red lentil, butternut squash curried soup made with coconut milk, sautéed onions. Also enjoyed a salad of mixed greens, one small peach cut into chunks, half an avocado and a half cup of cucumber. Dinner: Italian pepper stuffed with quinoa and sautéed shallot wit fresh basil. Sauce was Organico Bello (Whole 30 approved), sugar free, very low sodium.  This one is a keeper. Quinoa and tomato sauc...

While the morning went smooth, it was that kind of Monday where a person doesn’t seem to have time to breathe, let alone eat! My smoothie today was simple: 2T SP Pro Complete, Califia coconut milk, 1/4 mango, small knob ginger and a peach. For breakfast I steamed brussel sprouts and poached a piece of Lake Michigan lake trout. I cut it into 3 slices about 3oz each. Bill and I both had it with the sprouts. The other 3rd will be for the morning while Bill has eggs. Lunch was a salad with tatsoi, some cucumber, orange cherry tomato, a tablespoon of chopped fresh dates and a 1/4 cup of pulled chicken I roasted yesterday. I tried something different and roasted it with Indian spices rubbed into it. Also had a cup of Halwa soup, which wasn’t originally supposed to be soup at all. Halwa Is an Indian dessert also known as carrot pudding. However it did not thicken as I did not use milk or sugar. Instead I used coconut milk, the drinking kind, and no sugar. It’s still tasted really good so I us...

My husband remarked how disciplined I have been these past two weeks, not only in staying the course, but also by blogging it.  Truthfully, by blogging this I have put aside working on my photography (all food pictures I've posted are cell phone pictures). I have reading to catch up on as well as a sewing project!  Only five more days, which I have already decided will be a take-away blog. Food prep is beginning to get weary, but I think I already mentioned in a previous post, food prep has been more weary for  along time, even prior to this 21-day purification!  This does feel like more work though as our morning routine has been thrown off course with fixing two breakfast.  I look forward to sitting down next Saturday with my veggies and pasture eggs!!  I would think that since we get our eggs and milk from a farm that I shouldn't have to give them up. I've said that before too. Todays' post is for two days.  Oh well!   Started mo...

 Today has been a really good day!   Every breath we draw is a gift of God's love; every moment of existence is a grace. ~Thomas Merton Slept in this morning, and arose feeling rested. Decided to do a weigh in. 158. It felt good to see it under 160.  As I said on Day 1 - I don't want to lose a truckload of weight.  It is not healthy to lose alot of weight in such a short period of time.  Not only do you lose it from your fat reserves, and even muscle if not exercising, but also from your bones, especially if nutrients are not kept in check! So I took my Standard Process supplements, scanned the refrigerator, made a smoothie and we went for a 2.5 mile walk.  The walk was a bit tiring as the dew point at 8 a.m. had bordered at  70°F, and  dew point readings above 70°F  are oppressive and even dangerous. Anyway, back to the smoothie.  Since the amount of  food in the house was at the minimum (today & tomorrow shoppin...

Sometimes I wonder if we are the only ones who feel the craziness of the morning. Life would be simpler if we woke say 90 minutes before work, groomed, then grabbed a bowl of cereal and out the door. However, if we did that, I wouldn’t be writing a blog that I hope could be helpful to someone else someday. This week has been such a run-on sentence. I have to ask myself “do I feel better than I did before I started this 13 days ago?” Yes and No. I think I have more energy in the morning if I get a good night sleep, yet, once I have my morning walk before work (between 2 and 2.5 miles), I still often feel drained. Perhaps it is the sultry August mornings that are exhausting. I still have sinus issues that usually are seasonal, but the seasonal issue came back in the spring of 2020 and is still here.  So I kept it simple this morning, the best that I could do, maintained all the supplements, and for the morning smoothie I just threw in SP Complete, beets, carrots, cilantro, ginger and...

Another good night sleep, even though I do remember it storming, I was up once, and I had a very lucid dream before my 4:30 alarm.  Same routine just a different day. I made a double batch of smoothie with only the SP Complete (no need for the additional Whey Pro since I’m now eating fish). To the 2T SP Complete, I added a cup of coconut milk, fresh figs, 1/4 cup fresh dates (that I prepared last night - soaked and pitted) and a 1/4 cup of blueberries (this amount was for 1 smoothie). For breakfast I sautéed two large cloves of garlic, and fresh arugula from farmers market in my cast-iron skillet. This actually is part of a very common breakfast for us as we eat vegetables most mornings. I made enough for two, and Bill had his soft boiled eggs, and I reheated in the skillet the rest of the lake trout from yesterday. Lunch was an easy preparation. Chopped romaine lettuce, topped with seeded cucumber, peaches and chopped basil. The dressing was just extra-virgin olive oil. For lunche...

With 8-hours of sleep last night, not waking once during the middle of the night, the morning is off to a good start. A good night’s sleep also means more energy and I didn’t have to drag myself to my mat. After a decent work out it was time for breakfast and lunch preparation. Because it was also Day 11, that meant that I could start at adding wild fish or organic chicken (or wild game) into my meal plan. So the routine has been laid here, SP supplements, shake, food, and out the door. This morning I created a simple fig shake. All the same Standard Process ingredients, and doubling the batch so I can bring one to work. The only difference in what I used for liquid is that instead of the Califia coconut milk, are used SO Coconut milk. I think I prefer the Califia. To make clean up easy I lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper and laid out our asparagus and roasted them in the oven. I then roasted a 6 ounce piece of Lake Superior lake trout. While it is suggested that the fish only ...

“Monday, Monday” … “ just another manic Monday“, OH YES!!! It took me quite awhile to fall asleep last night. Because we get up so early we try to be in bed by 9p most nights, 9:30p at the latest, especially when the alarm goes off at 4:30a. But for no known reason, falling asleep easily on a Sunday night has its challenges. I’ve read that “Sunday insomnia” is a real thing when a person still is in the workforce. We find that our bodies function differently during work days than when off for weekends. Temperature also plays a role. Even with AC, our upstairs bedroom does not cool enough to a comfortable temperature… and we just replaced our AC and furnace in July! Anyway, I would venture to say that it was closer to 11p, but I finally fell asleep ( The best thing for me at night is a cup of warm raw milk with nutmeg, or Golden milk, an Indian preparation of ginger, turmeric and other spices in cow’s milk, but I can’t have that right now. I did drink 2T of organic tart cherry concentrat...

Had a long sleep, and I can't recall waking up during the night.  Since starting this journey, for the amount of liquids I am drinking a day, I'm glad the bathroom is close by!   We decided that we would spend the Sabbath morning at Lincoln Memorial Gardens  within nature's cathedral.  We hadn't been there for awhile (since the summer solstice).  So after our daily morning drink (heated water, 2T pure lemon juice - I like Lakewood , and 10 grams of collagen with peptide powder) I made another peach ginger smoothie for me as I made yesterday afternoon, and one for Bill as well. Then he had Ezekiel Flax seed toast with almond butter (not suppose to have that yet, so I will be patient.)   It was a great morning and I didn't start feeling hungry until the end of our hike. We put in almost 5 miles, with breaks along the way, including time to sit in front of the lake to just be and listen, and participate, in morning prayer with Abbey of the Art . Fin...

Saturday is Farmer's Market day.   The usual routine need to be altered as we had a 9a zoom for our Dominican Sister/Associate gathering.  Topic:   The Holy Preaching: On Care for Our Common Home.  We are not active as maybe we should be.  I always get "on fire" after attending a retreat such as this.  But that is another blog. As I have found, I am waking up with more energy.  Today is day-8.  Preparing breakfast is not what it used to look like and I miss my eggs and sautéed vegetables.  Sometimes for breakfast I would prepare salmon and eggs as well.  Breakfasts that include pancakes or muffins have been reserved for Saturday or Sunday for years, as starting the workday off with a good protein and vegetable meal has seemed important.   This morning for breakfast  I made a pumpkin fig smoothie:  2T SP Complete, 2T Whey Pro, 1/2 cop organic pureed pumpkin, 1/2 frozen banana, 4 small fresh fig...

Posting a blog about this Purification is a way to hold myself accountable. Not beat myself up. When I woke up I had so much energy! Slept in to 6 which is typical on a non-work Friday. Started my Friday routine and made this scrumptious smoothie using fresh figs I bought last night. I’d forgotten to buy the can of organic pumpkin, so I used a banana and I still have enough figs to make the pumpkin fig this weekend. It was simple: 2T SP Complete, 2T Whey Pro Complete, 6 small figs, 1 cold banana and 1 cup Califia Coconut milk. Afterwards, had some roasted Brussel Sprouts and then went for a 2.75 mile walk. Could have walked more (will go out this evening), but I had a zoom book club gathering at 10. I felt really good ( I did get on scale this morning and I’m down a pound ). Typically on Friday or Saturday we go down to the coffee shop in town. Last week on Day-1 I had a plain rooibos chai (no sugar, no caffeine), but since we were running late (it was 9:15), I suggested Bill drop me ...

What a gorgeous morning it was. I felt like I was beaming with gratitude. Perhaps it was that it is Thursday, the end of a workweek; or that the air was cool enough for a pleasant walk; or knowing that Week-1 is about over! Whatever the reason I am not complaining.  It has been a very productive work week as well, and what I want to complete today is obtainable. So after a 20-minute stretching-yoga style practice, I was off to the races. Well, not really , more like off to the kitchen 😊.  Sometimes it feels as if Bill and I are dancing gracefully in the kitchen as we move about to get things done. And we made it out of the house to get our 2.5 miles in at the park before we went to work!   Cooked up a sweet potato last night to try and make this race a bit smoother. This morning I made a smoothie for breakfas t and late morning. It turned out really good. Makes me want to add smoothies back into our repertoire after the 21-days are over. This Sweet Potato Pie smoo...

YESTERDAY my back muscles were achy, either due to a change in the barometric pressure, or all the sitting I was doing while sorting and filing at work. Still achy this morning. Because my lumber has lordosis, posture is critical when sitting, but when you have piles of paper being sorted, and doing more reaching that one ought, sometimes the muscles get tight. Lordosis also gives your back the appearance of a swayback, since the spine has a curvature, which also pushes out the belly. A firm core is so crucial. It’s frustrating when you are doing the daily exercising yet feel or see minimal results.  Another motivation of reducing the belly fat which helps the posture and reduces lumbar pain. When I went out to cut a sprig of lavender this morning I noticed the damp fog in the air. Barometric pressure rising. I hate the feeling of “eat and run”, and I’m not liking the rushed feeling of this work week. Yes. Working only 4 days a week has its advantages, however, they are 4 LONG days...

Four days in and I am feeling fine.  The side possible side effects didn't hit me like they could have, and I chalk that up to how I typically eat.  I am, however, having some cravings.  Not for "real food" per se, as everything I am eating is real food; what I am craving is more substance.  I can pass on the sweets that are floating around work. Easy.  Now if they were an Italian pastry made from a real bakery, that might be different!!!    What I really want is fish or eggs back in to my diet.  That will come soon enough.  I know that. This is a cleanse period to only put in really digestible foods while your body purifies. However, while I miss this protein source ( I do miss my morning eggs, fresh from the farm, with yolks as orange as a pumpkin ), I am not only allowing myself to become more creative, but embracing self-discipline.    Did I mention that for the first 7 days I am taking 10 capsules 3X a day with my smoothie...

OH YES!!!  Today certainly was a Monday .  I would of thought with as much food prep as I did Saturday and Sunday, the morning would have been a bit more smooth. Of course not -- but they never are on Mondays! It doesn't help that we have relatively small kitchen space.  When we bought our townhouse and my daughter visited for the first time, one of the first things she commented on was about the size of the kitchen.  Truthfully, someone who likes to cook -  I really do!  - needs larger work space.  But I've never had it. The workday routine is quite full.  My alarm went off at 4:30, out of bed by 4:40 and was on my mat for 20 minutes of stretching right after a trip to the bathroom.  By 5:30 I was down in the kitchen getting breakfast and lunch prepared, eat, and to be out of the house by 6:45 to walk before work.  Have I made you tired yet? Even lunch was rushed since I needed to go out and pick up the SP Pro Complete. Needless to say ...

Day 2 has come to an end!   Second day of more food prep for the week, which did not allow me as much time as I would have like for my photography and reading.  To be honest, food prep has become time consuming for awhile now.  More on that later, but for as much as I put in yesterday I was looking forward to a more laid back day. Preparing meals in our kitchen is a joint effort. I cook all our meals from scratch seven days a week. Bill cleans the dishes!!  What an arrangement. We don’t eat out a lot and when we do it is not fast food.  So here on this Sunday morning I cooked two meals. We usually have  Pamela's grain free  pancakes (using raw milk and pastured eggs) on Sunday so I made them for Bill with caramelized peaches. I made myself the morning SP shake and a vegetarian dish.  MORNING SHAKE We then went to church and for a minute I had to consider if I was going to continue receiving communion during this time.  I go to Mass 4-5 times ...