Freemotion's food journal: Expanding the gardens, pics p 53

[freemotion]

I usually teach counting fruit separately if weight loss is your goal. But if this is all new to you and it gets you to eat more good stuff, by all means go for it! Work your way up. I seriously could not eat all that stuff at first. It took some experimenting. If you can get a little bit of high fiber veggies in there like grated carrots, that will be better. Do I remember correctly that you only need to lose five pounds? If you are not in a huge hurry and it is coming off a little, keep going. Everyone has to figure out what works for their body. If you are not losing any weight yet, skip the banana, or only use slightly green ones....lower glycemic index on those. I buy smaller ones, too, for dh, who struggles with his weight. He will use one whole banana no matter what size it is.

This lifestyle requires more frequent trips to the produce section of the store to keep me really interested, at least twice a week if the garden is not producing. I really like fresh stuff. We try to keep some stuff in the freezer, too, and roots in the fridge, so we are never out of we don't get to the store.

The dog? Oh, that is a strange drama. He is wonderful, but his former owner went wacko on us and is demanding him back. In a rather threatening way. I had to call my lawyer yesterday. On a holiday.....he was shopping for clothes for his kids. We were taking steps to give him back just to get rid of her, but at his suggestion, have her sign a paper stating that he is in good health so she doesn't come after us if he drops dead next week or get sick or anything. She started saying that we didn't legally own him, she demanded him back, and that if we tried to register him with the town we would be registering a stolen dog! Just the tip of the iceberg. My neck is killing me! Oh, dh.....!

After a flurry of truly strange e-mails, she suddenly accused me of scaring her with my threats and retracted everything she'd said. Lesson #1: NEVER answer an ad on craigslist via e-mail, and never let them know where you live. She seemed ok, then she suddenly turned wack-job. Aiyiyi.....

 

[Dace]

Wow, crazy lady! Scary stuff.

I don't own a scale and it is only day three so it will take a few more days to figure out if I am on track or not.

I guess the bottom for me is that I am eating about 1 3/4 pounds more fresh fruits and veg than I was....so that is replacing things like sandwiches, pizza (homemade, but still..)and any dinner leftovers. These things were my breakfast and lunch. So I know I am way ahead of the game. I guess I will sit tight and see what my waistline has to say in the next few days. I appreciate all of your help! I feel great and know that I am doing a good thing for my body!

 

[freemotion]

Yay! That is a big change....been there, I know. You WILL feel better. Are ya poopin'? You don't have to answer that but if not, get some probiotics into you, like kefir and live culture (Greek is great) whole-milk yogurt into you, unflavored....flavor it yourself. You might already be putting it in your shake....I really can't keep track! You may get a little bigger in the middle if it is not yet coming out the other end reliably. One to three times per day, and your digestive system will thank you!

 

[big brown horse]

Free, what a crazy lady!! What was she thinking?! I'm so sorry.




While I'm here, may I ask a couple of questions about fermenting oats for horses? I would be happy to also post this on BYH. As you know and with your help I began to ferment whole oats for my horses mainly for my oldest horse, but they all get them almost every night now.

I have been giving them the fermented oats about 4 times a week with added alfalfa pellets. I give each horse about 2 cups (before the soak) oats. Tonight I was thinking MAN do these puppies expand after soaking overnight, or what?! You did mean 1-2 cups of dry oats or 1-2 cups of soaked, fermented oats? Am I making sense? Do you measure them before you soak them or after?

Also if I don't have enough whey would a couple of glugs of raw ACV be ok to soak them in? I then rinse them before I serve them.

FYI they love them and I think Ms. Twinks is gaining a bit of weight. She tends to get ribby during the winter, but not too bad...I do think it will only get worse because she is about 26 now.

 

[freemotion]

Well, since I feed more by condition than by measurement....if that makes sense.....just watch their condition and see if you need to go by dry volume or by soaked volume. You may need to feed less, as they will be more efficient with this.

Yes, I have used ACV to soak, but prefer whey because it adds lovely probiotics to the food. So I barely rinse them at the first couple of rinses....have you noticed the sweet yummy smell they have, like sweet yogurt? Then if the smell starts to sour a bit, I rinse the heck out of them, and then if I soaked too much, the chickens get those. That is because everyone gets them now, so I don't really measure, just scoop.

When I had my mare, I soaked her food by itself, because the goats weren't getting grain and I soaked separately for the hens for some reason. Can't think why.

By the way, we still have the pooch, and we are just going to sit tight and see if she goes away. I doubt it, but she sent so many e-mails, we could probably get her on harrassment if she starts up again. I wish I was going to visit my parents THIS week.....I'd just pack up both dogs and bring them with me just to get away. Yikes. No good deed goes unpunished!

I did go to Sally Beauty Supply after work and bought a pair of small trimmers that my stylist recommended. I will try to give this dog haircuts myself. He is so good about it, unlike Gunnar. It is worth the $40 to have someone else deal with that wiggleworm! I have a nice set of clippers from when I was showing my horse, but it has been close to 10 years since I did much with them and the blades are dull. I figured it would be easier to get the trimmers that I can get around his little toes and nose with, anyways. I will do a shavedown tomorrow so I can get a handle on his skin stuff. Diet will likely help a lot. I already see a reduction in the rust stains under his eyes. Kefir and raw chicken wings! Breakfast of champions!

 

[big brown horse]

Ok I understand what you mean free. Thank you so much!

I hope you get to keep that little guy sounds like a sweet animal. Gunner the "wiggleworm" that is too cute!

 

[Dace]

Free, yes things are moving along. But I can tell things are a little slower than they should\could be...feeling a little bloaty not bad just a little. I will add some kefir and more yogurt .....I do put some in my smoothie but not much maybe 4 oz.

 

[freemotion]

Hang in there, it takes time for your body to re-balance!

 

[Blackbird]

Hey Monique...

I seem to remember a story you told us all.. when you were younger, taking the goat across the yard, attaching a sled, hopping on and letter 'er go?

I think I pulled one of those today!
Poppy was in heat today, so after milking I dragged her across the yard, through the woods and to the buck barn. I waited a couple hours and went back out to get her in the dark. Well the second I got out of the shed she yanked the leash out of my hands and went crashing into the woods.
Traipsed through the woods, I found her kitty corner and along the garden with the leash caught on her back leg. After a long dance and stumbling I got it loose and we started across the yard.

Got right up to the driveway and she takes off, this time dragging me behind! I didn't want to let go and have her get lost somewhere so I kept hanging on. After dragging me 5-10 yards she would decide I was too heavy and stop, and the second I would get up she'd start running again. This happened 5-6 times over gravel, grass, more gravel, more gravel until I couldn't hang on any longer. SO glad there was a light layer of snow on the ground or I wouldn't have been so lucky, one side of my snowsuit is completely ripped off at the waist.

So, I limp over to the barn, yank the door open and up comes Poppy behind me barging in. I let her in with the other girls, close the doors and crawled to the house. I might add, the entire time I managed to hold onto the flashlight without breaking it

I hope the neighbors didn't hear my screams.

 

[TanksHill]

BB -- Oh you poor thing. That sounds like one heck of a ride. Thank goodness for the snow or you would have been a mess. Be safe.

gina