What Am I Eating Wednesday? Part III

Earlier today I had an appointment with my pastor (one of the pastors at Solana Beach Presbyterian Church), Josh Kerkhoff, and we talked about our upcoming All Church Retreat and what I'm going to say during services on the 29th. This post isn't really about that conversation, though I always enjoy conversations with Pastor Josh. (I know in Southern California especially, we tend to call people by first names and I'm generally just fine with that, but Josh is an ordained minister of the Word and Sacrament and I actually consider that a pretty big deal. What I have heard is that if you can do what you feel called to do without being ordained, then don't become ordained. I guess that's why I'm not ordained!)

Because I knew that Josh and I would probably talk for an hour and possibly more, and factoring in the drive time, I decided to have an Isagenix IsaSnack! at 1:00 before I left. These little babies are amazing. They are little "discs" I guess you'd say. Marianne and I have not considered getting vanilla because the other flavor is chocolate. I guess once in a great while I might have vanilla for a change of pace, but for now it's all chocolate when it comes to these snacks. Chew it up and you start to salivate and it sort of tastes like brownie batter (though not excessively sweet) and I am absolutely blown away by these little snacks. You can really take the place of another snack that you might have and be truly satisfied with these 35 calories. Make sure to have about 8 ounces of cold water to wash it down after you've savored the flavor. IsaSnacks! are great for that afternoon moment when you might eat too many calories of something that's not that good for you (or even terrible for you!) and you're not hungry 20 minutes later, either.

Our son prefers vanilla flavor in his shakes, so we may have to break down and order the vanilla in September. Does anyone reading this prefer vanilla to chocolate? I guess if you have severe gout sensitivity or you're actually experiencing full-blown gout you might want to stay away from anything chocolate just in case, according to what I've read. But staying away from something like coffee is much more important than staying away from a little natural chocolate.

When I got back from my meeting, my honey started some Trader Joe's Natural Chicken Breast in olive oil with turmeric. I finished cooking it and added some mustard (don't tell her!) and then put the other two pieces in the refrigerator after she left for the Meatloaf concert with her sister and brother-in-law at Humphrey's.

We also received a shipment today from a place we decided to try after she got back from Arizona recently. While she was only in Sedona for a day with her teacher friends during this quick road trip, she decided to eat two meals at ChocolaTree Cafe. It's a vegetarian and vegan restaurant/store and you can check out the store here.

So, along with the chicken breast I had an organic feast for one. I had 4 pieces of onion flat bread, 2 large Nori Nachos, 3 1/2 Chia Crackers, 3 1/2 ounces of Apple Honey Crunchy Granola, 1/2 Chocolate Pecan brownie and 1 Dark Cacao L.O.V.E. Cup.

My favorites are the Chia Crackers, Apple Honey Crunch granola and the onion flat bread. The Chia Crackers and the onion flat bread are savory and I only recommend the onion flat bread if you like onion because some might consider the onion flavor heavy. But, I'm alone tonight so I'm the only one who will be subject to the effects! I would give the Chia Crackers an 8.2 out of 10, the granola a 7.7 and the onion flat bread a 7.6 - unless you don't want your onion flavor that strong.

Though Marianne had a memory of the fantastic flavor of Nori Nachos, she thinks the ones she had in the restaurant were different somehow. I would have to say that these are a 6.5 if you like seaweed, but more like a 3 if you don't. I'm somewhere in the middle and I have learned in the last couple of decades that sometimes we need to eat certain foods simply because it's good for you and not because it tastes good.

If you've never had organic or natural (also read: less sweet) chocolate, you could be disappointed by the "small" level of sweetness in any of the sweet items. If you're ready to improve your diet and give up processed sugar, the granola will have a bigger impact on your taste buds. Both chocolate items are even less sweet than some other natural chocolate products I've had, though to be fair, I can't think of what those are right now. I guess I'd give the brownie a 5.8 and the L.O.V.E. cup a 5. Again, if you're used to typical chocolate and haven't given up processed sugar, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't rate them that high. However, if you are a big DARK chocolate lover and you don't mind the relatively low sweetness, the L.O.V.E. cup might be right up your alley.

L.O.V.E. stands for Live Organic Vegan Euphoria and it's $3.00 for a 1 ounce cup. It's anti-oxidant rich, low glycemic & gluten free with 77% cacao. And they are RAW. If that's your cup of tea (no pun intended), the L.O.V.E. cup is probably worth it to you. I'll admit that Marianne and I kind of got caught up in the moment and the memory of her fun & delicious time in Sedona and the Grand Canyon area. We might try one of the other cup flavors again, but I think we'll have to go without processed sugar or even stevia for a much longer time before we're able to appreciate the subtle sweetness of these, especially given the price. Almost forgot, the L.O.V.E. cups were made by a business right next door - ChocolateSuperFoods.com.

While I drink water about every hour or so, I'm told that the human liver can make use of 4 ounces every 20 minutes and our kidneys can handle just about as much as we want to drink. Time for another drink of water.


Keep walking!

What Am I Eating Wednesday? Part II

I was overdue for Ionix Supreme at 10:00 am and as always, at least 6-8 ounces of cold water with one ounce of Ionix Supreme. My son and I both like to drink it straight and follow with the water. You might be more like my wife, Marianne, who mixes it with the water. She finds it a little "spicy".

As it heats up I like to make sure I'm getting enough water. Did you know that you should have at least one ounce of water for every ounce of weight every day? When I started releasing weight on Isagenix that meant 138 ounces of water each day. That's more than a gallon! Also, it's my understanding that coffee actually takes water OUT of your body. So I would drink more water if you're drinking coffee. This is also true for diet soda. I learned the hard way when I was diagnosed with gout earlier this year.

At 11:15 I had my first ounce of Isagenix Cleanse For Life and this time I had 12 ounces of cold water as a chaser.

It's not yet noon and it continues to get hotter here. Make sure you drink enough water!


Keep walking!

What Am I Eating Wednesday? Part I

For those of you who are frequent scale watchers I expect to weigh myself this weekend - probably Sunday morning.

This morning we slept a little later as we're coming to the end of Marianne's summer vacation.

At 7:45 I had an Isagenix Isalean Shake with nothing added except water and ice cubes. It's pretty amazing how creamy it can get when you add the ice cubes in the blender.

At 9:20 I consumed 17 cherries and soon I'll have Ionix Supreme with more cold water.

Yesterday it seemed that August heat had finally arrived. It already seems hot today. This will be a test for me as I acquired an odd habit years ago. In the past I have tended to eat more when I feel the impact of the heat. I hope and expect that Isagenix will continue to keep me satisfied.


Keep walking!