Melissa Jones

I just had my 6 month follow up on my vitamin D deficiency. A couple months ago I realized I'd been taking the prescription for D2 of 50,000 units a week, for two years, with little upward movement in my blood levels. I also had a bit of tummy trouble on the day of the week that I took it. I decided I'd had enough of that, so I switched to D3 (lanolin derived) from the HFS. It meant more pills to get the 50000 units a week, but now it means fewer pills because my levels finally bumped up. My endocrinologist was surprised that I'd started absorbing it after all this time, then I admitted to the switch, and she agreed that I definitely absorb it better. I'm now taking a more normal 1000 IU a day. I also had a follow up bone scan, as it was starting into the osteopenia range a couple years ago, but now it's just right.

Last night I cleaned up my house pretty well, as I needed a bit of a workout anyway. It was weird to do as much as I did without feeling tired afterward. Maybe part of that is attitude, since I consider it a gentle workout I'm doing something for myself at the same time...that takes out some of the drudgery. I think I really do just have more energy. Housework is never quite the workout I'd like, though I do try to do squats and lunges at every opportunity, even if it's inefficient.

It's so weird for me to have any sort of renewal at this time of year, but I'm feeling it. Since bipolar can be a problem for Explorers, this diet and exercise plan must be helping me solve it.

What is my alternate universe? If I hadn't found BTD would I have taken phen-fen and or vioxx, and how many antidepressants, and how many other prescriptions and interventions. What would the side-effects have been? Explorers may be the most vulnerable to the side effects. Even though BTD wasn't quite the harmony and synergy that the explorer diet is, it was definitely better than anything else out there. I daresay that I've found my match here, however, with Explorer GTD.

So much to write about, so little time. This adjustment to the explorer diet has been very exciting for me. I read the explorer monograph (I think that was where I read it) and it mentioned that explorers can get bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia. I have bipolar SAD, though not too bad since starting BTD. It's usually bad this time of year (late October, and right after the time change). Sometimes I just get tearful easily for a week, have intense carb cravings, and have bouts of weakness at random times for a month or two (the type of weakness that drains you and makes you want to lie down wherever you are, and go to sleep). I realized today that I haven't had that. A bit teary at times, but my energy level has stayed consistently high, and the oddest thing is that I've been waking up earlier, awake, instead of wanting or being able to sleep in all morning. That's a major change. I went to a kickboxing class early Saturday morning and got back before anybody else woke. If I don't get 8 hours a night, then I do require one brief nap, but wow, weird. Saturday I also went swimming with my husband for our date night (eating out doesn't really appeal to us anymore, and I had some pinto bean soup in the crock pot anyway). I hadn't been swimming for quite a while, and it's quite a workout for me, as inefficient as I am in the water. I mostly practiced some kicks I'm having trouble getting down at taekwondo, so my body can learn the motions a bit easier. The side kicks definitely made me sore in a little-used muscle on the side of my hip. My shoulders are sore from kickboxing, but overall that was just a good sweat...just like explorers need. I may make those two workouts into habits, since tkd is only twice a week and explorers need at least 4 workouts a week.

Wow, I wanted to blog more about food. I made a "potato pizza" out of some of the jerusalem artichokes I planted last spring. Just rice crust, mozzarella, thin sliced and well-steamed j.artichokes, thyme, olive oil, onions, and pinenuts. I don't have a recipe for the crust, this time I bought one as I was already experimenting with the topping, but next time I'll devise a crust and post a recipe. Potato pizza is something you usually only see in Italy...I went there in 1998 before BTD and indulged in such things. My recipe is mainly from a recipe that was in Sunset long ago, 98 or 99. I haven't made it since back when I used to make spelt pizza crusts. My youngest son (hunter or explorer) loved it, and so did I. My husband gave his stamp of approval as well (even though teachers shouldn't eat j.artichokes, I had to get his opinion as somebody who has eaten the real thing).

I also marinated some canned quail eggs in lemon juice and salt water. It took a week of that (in the refrigerator) to get out the tinny taste. I served them on a "nest" of radish sprouts. So I did have eggs one morning this week!

Oh, and yes, I am eating some dairy again. I plan to rotate it, eating it a couple days a week, then being dairy free the rest of the week. That way I shouldn't have any trouble with mucus buildup, if that's an issue. I blamed dairy for my illnesses, but it could have just been explorer toxins that I was eating as a mistaken gatherer. I'm treading carefully there, and only with the superfoods.

Granted, you could make a waldorf that is more like a waldorf than the one I made this morning, out of explorer neutrals and superfoods. This one however was interesting, in a fun way.

I finally broke out my sprouter that I've never used, and made radish sprouts. It only takes a tablespoon of seeds to get a lot of sprouts, and they're so fresh and nice compared to storebought. Radish sprouts have a lot of heat in them, and I had a lot of sprouts to eat, so I decided to combine them with something sweet...diced apples. I dressed it with a little olive oil, lemon juice and a bit of sea salt. It was a great way to wake myself up!

Now to break out my flaker, because I'm out of storebought quinoa flakes. They have been a breakfast staple. I don't know if it will work for tiny little quinoa, but I have other grains it should work on if not quinoa. I did realize I was going wrong to put butter on the porridge, butter in an explorer toxin, but there's a new HFS in town that sells organic ghee for a pretty decent price, so I'm stocked up on that again.

I also finally faced my fear and ate some fresh mozzarella. It was yummy. I think I'll keep dairy to once or twice a week for now.

I don't think I've ever eaten so many vegetables and live foods in my life. I feel like my mind and body are really getting into the groove of this plan. Yesterday's taekwondo was tough, but it really makes me tougher, more than just physically. My past periods of noncompliance may have been due to explorer dietary needs, which were a tiny bit mismatched, or it may have been just stress and lack of discipline...probably all of the above. I'm glad to move forward yet again, with a plan I can stick with.

One of our favorite movies to watch repeatedly (next to Princess Bride) is Joe Versus The Volcano. The main character, Joe Banks, is most certainly an Explorer. He's constantly sick or coming down with something, until he's told that his worst fear is true and he is dying. He then embarks on a great journey to a tropical volcano, when he rediscovers his inward strength (and tests his longevity a few times). It's a quirky movie, with some impressive symbolism and music.

One of the main symbols is a lightning bolt

It symbolizes the crooked path he takes to finally find love and courage.

Another small thing it reminds me of is the crooked path I've taken in discovering health and expanding my life beyond myself.

At one point he asks a woman, who is contemplating suicide because she's miserable living off her father's money, he says something like "if you have to choose between doing what you're afraid of doing and killing yourself, then do what you're afraid of doing?" (become independent from her father).

I was afraid to try the BTD, and I was afraid to really see if I might be an explorer, I was afraid to start Tae Kwon Do, and of course I was very afraid to become a mom. It's all about taking risks, taking a leap, and putting yourself in the vulnerable position that allows you to discover and grow. As an adult it's too easy to forget that and to forget "how big" life is, we need to step outside of ourselves and our established ways of thinking, to find reminders.

Everytime I go the the local HFS I like to buy myself a little treat. Chocolate or kombucha are now out, and I haven't been crazy about either lately, and kombucha always made me feel weird. Today I didn't glance at the nutty bars and whatnot, all I wanted was a radish. I had to wait to get home and wash it before I could eat it, so it wasn't as convenient as the former treats, but I enjoyed it! I picked out the one with the best leaves (organic) because the leaves are a diamond.

Got up this morning and grabbed an organic Fuji apple for a pre-taekwondo snack. Class was good, not as hard a workout as Tuesday, but we sweated plenty. I'm still sore from Tuesday, but have energy despite the pain. I do make use of a heating pad at night, and that helps quite a bit. The sauna helps too, though I rarely get into it very soon after class.

Thursdays are always crazy busy in the morning. Once I finally got my son off to school, I came home and ate the leftover lemon/thyme lamb chops I made last night, and some cooked millet mush with molasses added.

It is a shock to get off the O-non or gatherer diet and discover some super sweet superfoods. Apples, apple juice, honey, molasses, maple syrup, rice syrup...all superfoods? Whoa. It's hard to eat any of these more than once a day, but so far I haven't had any dips in blood sugar.

I made lentil soup for dinner, and tossed in a couple lamb bones for flavor and nutrition. Not quite the same result as a ham hock, maybe next time I'll try a natural turkey bacon. I used onions, carrots, garlic, ghee, olive oil, thyme, bay leaf, salt, chicken stock, and a little curry. DH loved it, as did little A, they love bean soups. I'd like to work on the recipe a bit more, and get some different lentils for soup (I think the french green lentils work best, according to Cook's Illustrated, all I had were split red lentils which get pretty mushy/mealy). I also came as close as I ever have to overdosing on fruits and vegetables, with a salad of each.

I picked up some broccoli sprouts, and bought radish seeds for sprouting. I'd like to somewhat recreate the Yo Soy Mucho bowl from Cafe Gratitude. The guacamole and salsa will have to wait a few months, but adding something flavorful to a base of quinoa with sprouts on top sounds really appealing. I have some bulk grains that I need to use up, as I don't know how long they keep. I packaged up the amaranth when I thought I was a hunter, because I was sure I wouldn't get it used up fast enough. I used a vacuum sealer and put in an oxygen absorber packet. I then proceeded on to the quinoa, since I was already on a roll. I ran out of the bags before starting on the millet, so I need to try the attachment for sealing a can, as I have a few of those. It's a couple extra steps, but I'll get it done...that's easier than braving wal-mart with the boys to find more bags.