Believe it or not!

We seem to be back to being healthy these days. João is feeling like his old self, except for the fact that he has  given up chimarrão, so as not to take in so much caffeine. All his exams look good except for his fat levels in his blood.  My mouth flew open when I saw his results and I was glad we had the tests run. Although the tests were good news in knowing he has nothing wrong with him to cause the nose bleeds (probably the result of dry air or allergies), I was so glad he had them since they revealed this problem. I don’t know anyone who has a healthier lifestyle than he does. He exercises, doesn’t eat red meat, avoids all sugar and eats lots of grains and vegetables. So how does he have a problem with cholesterol and triglycerides? I mean, look at me and you expect a problem, but my numbers are better than his. We can only figure it’s in the DNA, as his mom has high numbers as well.

So now we’ve on to redouble our efforts to eat right. That means quinoa for breakfast (he’s suddenly fallen in love with the stuff) with homemade yogurt (low fat of course!).  Later in the morning I make a “green juice” for our “snack”.  The quinoa is virtually no work, but the juice involves going to the market to get fresh ingredients, cleaning and then extracting and finally the dreaded task of cleaning the extractor. I’ve been using spinach and cilantro and eggplant and carrots and apples, beets, etc. for the juice.  It actually tastes pretty good, if you can get over the concept of it being green! I find if I strain it and put in ice cubes it’s better for me since I am all neurotic about slimy things.

I’ve been fixing organic chicken for quite a while now because of my own health issues, so I will continue with that. Today, however I went to the market near our house and got some fresh fish. It is such a beautiful filet, it almost seems a shame to cook it. I just have to decide what to do with it. João loves fish.  I have learned to like it. I prefer it grilled, but he likes it “stewed” not my favorite, since it involves using tomatoes and cooked tomatoes give me heartburn to the end of the word! I may have to get a big George Foreman grill to do the fish on, since frying is definitely out!

In addition, I’ve added in a more deliberate attempt to eat both Brazil nuts and walnuts everyday. I really love nuts and they help stabilize my blood sugar. I have to be careful not to overdo. And believe it or not they are expensive here.  João is not so much a fan, but he doesn’t mind, so periodically I offer him one and he eats it.

João has always like to eat oats (homemade granola) at night. Me not so much, unless it has about four cups of brown sugar . Just kidding, well sort of. He doesn’t mind it without anything sweet. Not me. So he eats his granola and I usually eat ricotta cheese or yogurt with a piece of toast and fruit.  In addition, I make green tea for lunch and homemade fruit juices, since we aren’t so good about eating fruits, which would be better. I always eat an apple a day and sometimes a banana. I love strawberries and blueberries, but ever since I read about all the chemicals used in their production and have been unable to find organic ones, I have given them up. I promise I am not neurotic about organics, but as mentioned I had some health issues traced back to the use of chemicals and hormones in our food, so I try to be limit their consumption where I can.

Eating like this is time consuming and expensive, although less expensive than eating out. For instance whole grain rice is twice the price of white rice takes 40 minutes, not 15 to cook. We had already decided, before this, to limit eating out to special occasions and celebrations so it will be more special and meaningful.

Now for the good news… since starting to prepare food like this, beginning last week, I’ve lost several pounds. Now I’ll admit that some of that was probably because I lost my appetite in concern about João’s health, but that only accounts for about two days. I haven’t been to the gym this week, because I was involved in running to doctors, and labs, among other things, so I was very surprised. I do recall that when I was drinking green juice everyday I lost about 10 lbs., so I guess it does something to my metabolism, since I didn’t change anything else.  Who’s to complain? Not me.  I guess we both just needed a wake-up call to remind us to be good stewards of our body.