"New-Life Diet," by Aimee Nadow.

"New-Life Diet," by Aimee Nadow: 

How educating myself and overhauling a modern diet changed my energy, optimism, and weight loss goals. 

(Disclaimer: The following information is intended as educational and is not meant to be followed without the advice and permission of your doctor and nutritionist. The foods and videos below are chosen by myself and I did not receive compensation for any of them.)

Stage 1: 2005-2012

'Eat Right For Your Blood Type': In 2005 I was hospitalized because of a week of Tropical Smoothies which lead to toxic leaching into my stomach, learned more about my blood type, and then struggled to find all of the right vitamins and nutrients after cutting out lots of processed foods, and you can read my story here. 

Stage 2: 2012-2014 

The Asian diet: In 2012 I went "gluten free" for two years and ate a mostly Asian diet while hosting Chinese foreign exchange students. I struggled at first with gluten withdrawal, and then the quick weight loss and energy boost eventually went away as I added gluten back into my diet at the end of 2014.

Stage 3: 2015-mid 2017

Pregnancy and Postpartum: I had the delightful experience of Hyperemesis gravidarum (morning sickness for duration of pregnancy,) gestational diabetes and preeclampsia: yay! I ate what I could. Postpartum I nursed for ten months and ate what helped, and naturally my weight dropped, then went back up again when I stopped nursing. 

Stage 4: July 2017-present

"Go Big or Go Home:" Everyone has different dietary needs and restrictions. I've been dogging my own for years so I decided to cut out everything that I think is causing my dietary challenges or may be unhealthy for me in some way. I decided to stick with the following (Thyroid, Adrenals, and Lymph-node healing) diet: 

-No caffeine*

-No dairy

-No gluten

-No added sugar(s)

-Add apple cider vinegar for acetic acid 1-2x/week

-High protein/fiber oatmeal for breakfast everyday

-Add vitamin (whole food)

-Reishi tea detox (every few days)

-Daily calorie limit 1500-1700 plus any extra from exercise 

-Exercise 30 min+ (3-4x/week)

-Add sleep/more REM
-MINIMAL processed foods (trying to eat foods with less than five natural ingredients) 

WEEK 3: 12.5 pounds lost total
UPDATE! Week 4: 13.4 pounds lost total

*I know all of you coffee lovers were cringing and considering ex-ing out of your browser as soon as you read 'no caffeine.' If you're committed to consuming coffee/caffeine and you want some great recommendations of my favorite blends from when I was a coffee addict check out my coffee review. If you're a tea drinker and that thought also makes you cringe you can check out my blog post: "The powers of tea! A review of my favorite blends."   or, my blog post: "The secrets of Chinese Green tea." 

But if you're GENUINELY interested in weight loss or nutrition or body health then I think you should forge ahead and learn a little about your adrenals and why you have to heal them (cutting sugar and caffeine) before you're going to get any results even if you're a warrior in the gym. 

Caffeine Detox duration: 6 days (only 3 bad days) of withdrawal symptoms.

No caffeine day 1: random feeling of alertness/wakefulness

No caffeine day 2: extra energy; did two workouts!

No caffeine days 3-5: Tough days. Uncharacteristically weepy emotions and general frustration. Luckily, still married. 

No caffeine: days 6-current: No cravings for coffee, only any 'hot' beverage in the morning; craving lasts for only about fifteen minutes (old habit) and then goes away.
(For "cheat" days during and post caffeine detox: Decaffinated almond milk or soy Starbucks latté with sugar-free vanilla and their Canadian bacon certified gluten free breakfast sandwich.)

Gluten Detox and Sugar Detox duration: 14+ days of symptoms.

My Gluten detox did not coincide with my caffeine detox so that I could better monitor the overall withdrawal symptoms. It was worse than the caffeine detox. Many days of a zombie-like "brain fog." The thought of eating gluten by accident and having to start that detox all over again is frightening. 

• Additional note: My old list of "Top Ten Detox foods," can be found here.) Now I would substitute the Bolthouse Green Machine type-drinks (so much sugar) for the Suja Daily Greens.
• Alternative Organic Products review: http://nadow.blogspot.com/2013/09/2013-organic-product-review-guide.html

So why did I go to these diet changing extremes? I learned that I had completely worn out my adrenal glands from decades of caffeine intake and sugar consumption and that my lymph nodes were chronically swollen and I wanted to heal them. These issues are fairly common amongst Americans. To learn how to test for adrenal fatigue watch the following video and the subsequent educational videos which is how I also educated myself about the topic. 

Or, skip below the videos, to see some of the foods that I've been eating for that past month or so.

Adrenal and Lymph Node educational videos: (Content intended for adults.)

Now, here are some of the foods that I've added into my diet to replace old habits or to add newer, healthier choices in:

 1. Bone broth by Bonafide. 

 2. Dairy-free probiotics: Due to the fruit, this has a higher natural sugar content then I would like, so I only consume about 4oz, every other day.

 3. So Delicious Coconut "Cool-whip," as a dairy-free dessert replacement, just add frozen fruit for a delightfully refreshing dessert.

3. Daily oatmeal breakfast: High protein AND fiber. 190 cal/bowl. Two delicious flavors.  No heavy gunky normal "oatmeal" flavor.

 4. Citrus water for vitamin benefits; organic fruits (less) instead of traditional pesticide ones.

 5. Almond milk and coconut/almond milk substitute. Delicious and high in calcium. Super low (40) calories/serving.

6. Ice cream replacement: So delicious Coconut Milk "ice cream" alternative. High in calories and guilt, delicious flavor.

 7. Whole food multivitamin for better absorption. (Allegedly.)

8. Apple cider vinegar: the horror! The Horror! It's godawful. Mix with water. Take a chaser. 1-2x/week. Great before red meat to aid digestion. Great for getting rid of colds.

 9. Husband-approved tea: Reishi detox mushroom blend, one bag for a medium kettle, add a tablespoon of organic local honey (read about the horrors of imported honey here if you care) and shred one of the organic ginger-fingers (skin on) over the kettle and let steep from boiling for ten minutes before drinking. I can feel my lymph nodes clearing after this one.

 10. Dying-for-gluten snacks: these "hit the spot," for moments of preceived weakness: Glutino "pretzels," Vans GF cereals and cereal bars and crackers, and veggie chips.

 11. But what do you eat for lunch? The salsas for my veggie chips.

 

 12. But I just want a brownie/cupcake/treat! Try these coconut macaroon-style bites. Good god, so scrumptious!

13. I can't live without pizza/bread/fried chicken: No you shouldn't have to. Here are some good options!












Finally: Get a fitness/weight/nutrition/calorie App Tracker. I like: My Net Diary Pro. I've been using it for four years and I love the Lifetime weight and exercise tracking charts. ($3.99) This app also helps me track nutrients so that I can be sure I'm getting the right nutrition.

Final health plug: If you're interested in tracking cholesterol or your iron you can always give blood and find out for free! Plus, saving lives is a bonus!

The Horrors of Honey?

Go to your pantry. Take out your honey jar, and investigate its origins. Unless it says USDA certified organic, there's a good chance that it's illegally imported, mislabeled Chinese honey, which evaded taxes and could contain banned antibiotics.  Earlier this year, National Public Radio exposed the mislabeling from two of the biggest USA honey packers (which was the "largest food fraud case in history"):

"This is a huge deal for the industry. This is the first admission by a U.S. packer, the actual user,” that they were knowingly importing mislabeled honey, Eric Wenger, chairman of True Source Honey, an industry consortium that has set up an auditing and testing system to guarantee the true origin of honey, told NPR." 1

However, evading the $180M in import taxes didn't seem to help out the struggling company as GROEB (USA), one of the big packers, filed for bankruptcy on October 3rd, 2013, and this filing put an end to the class-action lawsuits against the company. Ethics aside, this case is not really "new" news, with reports of tainted and illegally imported honey having been reported back in 2011. Since then, the European Union has been in the vanguard of banning Asian honey, and our FDA which "checks few of the thousands of shipments arriving through 22 American ports each year," 2 cannot possibly regulate it all...and it's not just illegal Chinese honey that's being found, Indian and Vietnamese honey are also part of the problem. (How can we avoid filtered, stripped, tainted-with-antibiotics illegal honey? By buying local organic honey, which must be labeled as follows.)

Of course, what's especially alarming at this moment, 45% of American FDA workers (around 6,500 workers nationwide) have been furloughed currently pending the government shutdown. 68% of the staff at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in surveillance presently have also been furloughed. So honey testing aside, all major "routine establishment inspections, some compliance and enforcement activities, monitoring of imports, notification programs, and the majority of lab research" has stopped. 3 I did some additional research into the effects of the Government Shutdown on the FDA and discovered that the full time FDA meat production facility employees will still be working, but this is still troubling. It is estimated that the FDA inspects 80 facilities nationwide per day, so if the shutdown continues to Oct. 17, another estimated 960 facilities will go without being inspected. What is really interesting, are the horrifying 2013 warning letters to companies that failed inspections which you can read here. There are major companies listed there with violations of illegal drug residue (mainly in cows which were sold living in inadequate living conditions), misbrandings, insanitary conditions, mislabeling, unapproved supplements, modified tobbaco products...the list goes on and there are over 25 pages of summary violations.

So what began as an investigation into illegal honey mislabeling, has led me down the closed hallways of food inspection, reminiscent of the horrors of the meatpacking industry in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Why aren't we hearing more about this?

Gluten Free/Vegan/Dairy Free/Non-GMO/Raw Food & Product Reviews.

The Disclaimer: I have an annoying, fancy, trendy, alternative diet. So I'd like to apologize in advance if any of my Non-GMO, organic, dairy alternative, Gluten Free food choices offend you, I'm just an American girl trying to navigate a sea of chemicals and genetically modified foods in a processed food empire.

The Apology: I used to laugh at vegans. I rolled my eyes at the "Raw Food" yuppies. I scoffed at vegetarians. (I'm sorry, friends!) Now? I'm wondering if they are on to something. So, friends, I apologize for my preconceived, ignorant judgments and hope that the following food products and lifestyle diet changes that you have helped me make for the better can help others.

The Quick Story: If you want to read the story why I chose to go Gluten Free after adopting a more Chinese/Asian diet last fall, you can read how I was hospitalized because of fruit poisoning, learned more about my blood type, and struggled to find all of the right vitamins and nutrients after cutting out lots of processed foods, then you can read my story here. It talks about the struggles at first with gluten withdrawal, and then the quick weight loss and energy boost.

Since going Gluten Free (GF) last October, I've struggled to get enough carbohydrates and satisfying GF bread products -that warm sink your teeth into buttery crust kind of feeling, any kind of GF pastry or dessert. I had pretty much given up on the fact that I might ever get to eat decent bread or desserts again when I discovered Nutrition S'Mart, a "Whole Foods" or "Trader Joes" type food store in New Tampa. Here, at this place, I found dozens of new GF products, some of which are dairy-free and/or vegan, which I would like to share with you today.

Categories of Food Reviews, scroll down for: -Gluten Free foods, -Vegan Foods, -Multi-category foods (Non-GMO, Raw, Vegan, Dairy free, Soy free, nut free, GF foods), -Beverages.

Gluten Free Specific Products: 

Gluten Free bread was the first GF change that I made to my diet, and no product has been better than UDI's. Found in the freezer section, it is great toasted, especially the raisin & cinnamon flavor, the millet-chia one, and the whole grain. It's got a great crust. It is a bit small for sandwiches... I usually have to make two because the slices are so small. Udi's Breads are the reason I was able to give up gluten in the first place and these are awesome products. Udi's also makes hamburger buns, hot dog buns, and other styles of bread. About $5/loaf.

GLUTINO: GF Bagel Chips (with Kosher Dairy): I am delighted to share with you that you can't tell that these are "GF" bagel chips. They taste exactly like the real thing and are delicious. If you're craving something crunchy (besides carrot, cucumber or other vegetables) to dip in hummus, or to load with bruschetta, these are it. Enjoy! ($4.79/box)


I've been buying Tinkyada's rice pastas for the past year. You might bemoan the $4-5/package over it's $1-wheat counterpart, but I've found with rice pasta, you tend to eat less of it to be just as full. (You can get a 6-pack online for $20.) The fettucini style makes for a great Pad Thai, just add peanuts, vegetables and GF thai peanut sauce like the one I've reviewed below.

I bought SAN-J's Thai Peanut sauce this week so that I could make pad thai with the Tinkyada rice pasta that I reviewed above, and I loved this sauce! A lot of sauces have flour in them (a fact I didn't know before this GF journey!) so I grabbed this one, and it's going to work great for the rest of my life. It's mildly spicy, which works for my stomach, and I added some fire peanuts to make it a bit spicier that day: it was perfect. Enjoy.

Vegan Specific Products:

SAMI'S BAKERY: Millet and Flax barbeque pita chips. Because these pita chips have traces of gluten, yeast and wheat, I can't put them into the GF food category, but if you don't have Celiac, they're probably okay, having none of these ingredients, but made in a facility that does. Don't be fooled by the bland-looking picture, these pita chips are loaded with flavor, especially in the Barbecue flavor. Enjoy! ($3.99/bag)

 Gluten Free, Dairy-Free, Raw, Non-GMO, VEGAN: 

My favorite product in this category, is the bag of "Blonde Macaroons" from HAIL MERRY. They are organic, vegan, raw, GF, and non-GMO, and they are DELICIOUS. It's challenging to stop eating them out of the refrigerated bag! If you miss cookies, these are the ones that you've been missing. They're rich, smooth and melt in your mouth. Also beloved by my other GF friend, Kim and her daughters. Enjoy! $3.99/bag. 

go raw's REAL LIVE CHOCOLATE is like a chocolate you've never had before. In amazing singly wrapped live truffles (thank God or I'd eat the whole carton), this live chocolate which is Vegan, GF, GMO free, Dairy free, nut free and soy free, and is a delectable superfood dessert. I can die happy now. TRY IT. $5.49/carton. (Worth every penny.)

The SO DELICIOUS cultured coconut milk "Greek Style" yogurt (dairy free, organic, GF, soy free, vegan) has a more solid texture than it's actual yogurt counterpart, but as a substitute, it's not terrible. The Strawberry flavor tasted a bit like aspartame to me, even though that is not an ingredient, and must be the "organic dried cane syrup" natural flavor. At 130 calories for 6oz, it's so-so. At $1.99/cup it's a bit expensive to eat often. I'd pass on this product.

The regular product (not in the Greek Style) cultured coconut milk review is coming soon! 

Earth Cafe makes some of the best (GF/Vegan/Dairy free/Raw) "cheese cake" slices that I've ever tasted! You can also buy a whole cheesecake on their website. I'm going to buy a whole one for Thanksgiving this year. Don't be fooled: these slices are full of calories, but worth every bite! At about 400 calories and $4.99/slice, it's a rich, delectable dessert to indulge in. Banana Dream in my favorite.

Stacy's Gluten Free (and dairy free, wheat free, soy free, nut free and egg free!) is a local Tampa bakery that makes goodies with all of the above listed considerations as well. Her heartwarming story about how she discovered her son's allergies, and then his recovery from challenges with a diet change, is inspiring! This week I tried the Agave Vanilla Cake with cocoa icing: it was rich!

Beverages:

"SYNERGY: Organic and Raw- Raspberry Chia," by G.T Dave made in Beverly Hills, CA, is full of enzymes, probiotics, detoxifiers and chia seeds. These seeds have "more than 8 times the omega-3s found in salmon. It's probably better of you don't know what kombucha is, but feel free to check here, I did (RACHEL: don't look!) Because of the fermentation process, there are trace amounts of alcohol, which I felt in the first sip! Who knew? The $3.39/16oz bottle took me two days, and three servings to drink, and besides the fuzzy "buzzed" feeling at the sharp almost smooth not-so-sugary raspberry vinaigrette taste, it's not so horrible that I won't try some of the other flavors because it is a superfood beverage. This one's a bit too much like salad dressing for my taste.


MORE FOOD REVIEWS of the following products COMING SOON!

"The Skinny on 'Gluten Free:' ten years of dietary evolution."

So every year for a New Year's Resolution I usually aspire to lose twenty pounds. 2012 was the year that I've come the closest to that goal. Did I eat less and exercise more often? I would definitely say that the tried-and-true regimen "kickstarted" my progress down from my mid-twenties working professional weight to the normalized BMI that I'd been chasing since college. However, I attribute the overall weight loss to one significant change that I've made in my diet.

In 2006, I was hospitalized on the Panhandle of Florida with a moderate case of "gastroenteritis"- which basically (according to my memory) meant that I had consumed too many highly processed foods, (fresh frozen fruit smoothies- who knew?!) and after a few days of these "healthy" 24oz breakfasts (thank you Smoothie Cafe!) my body started leaching toxins into my body, and I had something akin to Toxic Shock: where my heart raced at 180 bpm sitting down, I was dizzy and Bass Pro Shops made me go to the hospital at the start of the second half of my shift. (Did I mention that it was Tom's birthday?) So Tom drove me to Sacred Heart Hospital (where they pray over the intercoms, and it's very comforting!) and they X-Rayed me and after about four hours, I had been treated. It was there that a doctor first mentioned the Eat Right for Your Blood Type book and some other titles. I remember being surprised- I should actually read these? And thrilled, because these seemed like helpful answers to the questions of my dietary needs, something that had haunted me since high school. I discovered that as the "oldest bloodtype" (O-Negative) that my type hadn't evolved enough to process processed foods. Is there truth to this statement? All I know is that this DEFINITELY applies to me. I realized that I'd been eating the "Paleolithic Diet" since '02- mainly meat, veggies and fruits: all basic 1-ingredient foods. Rx from the Doctor? No more refined or highly processed foods, or I might be hospitalized again. Bummer.

Back in 2002, I had seen a dermatologist who said that I should stop eating dairy to help clear up my face. After three months of this idea, I was never able to process dairy again. (I broke "free" from the pull of the GOT MILK? media campaign which suggests we be the only species to continue drinking milk after birth periods.) Rx from the Dermatologist? No dairy now, or at least minimal dairy, for the rest of my life due to a developed (but natural) intolerance.

So I've adapted my diet, excluding large amounts of dairy, and processed foods, while limiting my sugar, and sticking mainly to: meat, vegetables, fruit and carbs.

In 2010, Rachel and I trained for the 3-Day for the Cure, walking in the ballpark of 550 miles. Many people encouraged us with comments such as, "You two must be losing so much weight!" but in truth, we both lost about 2lbs each during the sixth months. The mistake we made the first time, was to make sure that we didn't become overly dehydrated, or dizzy, so we ate/drank back the amount of calories that we were burning with Gatorade, protein bars, nuts and fruit- all "seemingly healthy" snacks! In fact, on Saturdays, we were eating over the 1,000 calories that we had burned over ten miles or so, by eating lunch at Panera!

So when we trained for the same endurance event in 2012, we knew our body and caloric limits. We burned more calories than we were eating, but in a healthy way, maintaining our hydration and energy levels, by eating smarter and less that we had in 2010. We lost more weight, (I was around 7lbs lighter in July than I had been in January of 2012) and after the 3-Day was over we both committed to continuing our physical training with the Couch to 5K programs.

At just about this time, I welcomed two Chinese high school students into my house and my diet made a drastically different change. I was introduced to rice noodles, rice, authentic and healthy sautéed vegetables and more. While my running times disappeared with my new guardian duties of making nightly meals, and cleaning, my weight continued to drop with the combination of my new Chinamerican diet and one new major dietary change: I found Gluten Free bread.

Cue "the Great Dietary Change of 2012" ---I have now severely limited my intake of gluten based products, dropping and maintaining another 5lbs off of the 7lbs I had slimmed down to. None of my pants fit anymore. I now weigh the same amount as I did in college. I no longer use the term "food baby" on a daily or weekly basis when referring to my swollen or bloated bread belly.

Should everyone do this? Let me clear. I haven't cut all carbs out. I've replaced wheat noodles with rice noodles, wheat bread with gluten free whole grain bread (Udi's is a great brand), whenever I can. Have I noticed a difference? Between training, my Chinamerican diet, (which I am very full, happy and satisfied about) and the "Gluten light" diet change: I have noticed my afternoon energy levels increase, my waistline decrease from a size 10/12/13 to a 6/8, and my overall weight drop about 12-13 pounds this year, so I plan to make this a permanent change.

You may have noticed many other people making this change too. Some, for health reasons: Celiac disease, allergies, health improvements...as awareness grows, more and more people have been calling the government to demand new labeling for genetically modified wheat and corn (which has been shown to agitate or harm individuals as it becomes harder to digest). As we watch these changes being made, it's important to take a true look at true ingredients in the things we are consuming, and letting our kids consume. Sometimes fresh fruit, when blended with ice, can have invisible toxins from pesticides that literally cause our bodies to go into shock. Even healthy vegetables, when not washed with a fruit/veggie wash, can harm us. So when I can't afford organic- I make sure to wash, wash, wash!