"What Jill Eats" Series

I suppose it's presumptuous to assume anyone cares what I eat, but I think there may be a few out there. Perhaps out of sheer curiosity, perhaps for new meal ideas, perhaps for fodder to make fun of me (enter my brothers).....who knows.

Joking aside, this is actually serious stuff. I feel fabulous most of the time. I'm not perfect and I don't want to be but I do feel great in spite of a persistent underlying weakness in my thyroid. For a long time I've been looking for the magic reason why my thyroid is not working right. You know, that one thing that is going to cure me. Well I've come to the realization that it is most likely a set of factors that have contributed to that weakness. And I think I have accepted the fact that I have a weakness (OK, maybe I do want to be perfect).

You see, I feel soooooo good. My mood is even, I'm calm and accepting, I have lots of patience and I just feel content all the time. There is this underlying pervasive feeling of satisfaction and sometimes even giddiness that I walk around with. My kids do get me frustrated sometimes, again, I'm not perfect, really. And sometimes things bother me but I soon return to that calm, content feeling. And I have plenty of energy, which can come in handy sometimes. My point is that I think it may be valuable to share with others about what I am eating. And perhaps other people can post their ideas as well.

Please keep in mind that everyone is unique in how they metabolize food. (ie: how they produce and use energy) So my needs will not be the same as everyone else. Right now I tend to have a mixed need for high and medium protein foods and low and medium carbohydrate vegetables coupled with a moderate need for fat. Grains rarely make an appearance and fruit is eaten as desert, if at all. Dairy is eaten raw of course. Eggs I usually have in the form of just the yolks and I eat them mostly raw. In the summer I was eating a lot more raw beef but in this cold weather it just doesn't feel right.

I always pay attention to my body. Anyone who is focused on eating well should be engaged in this process. Eating well is an art form. There is the need for knowledge of course, but that must be coupled with intuition, open-mindedness, and careful observation. Dogma is for the dogs. Whatever you learn from a book or from a nutritionist should serve as a guideline, not a rule. If you are inspired to make a change, do so, but listen to your body. It will tell you what works and what doesn't.

Yesterday this is what I ate:

Breakfast: 1 soft-boiled egg, 2 celery sticks, 2 raw egg yolks in a banana and raw yogurt shake

Lunch: 4 chicken legs (marinated overnight in lemon, butter, fresh garlic, sea salt, thyme, rosemary, and sage and then slow-cooked in a covered pot at 225 degrees for 8 hours), 1 soft boiled egg yolk, cucumber, spinach, and mushroom salad with olive oil, raw vinegar, sea salt, nutritional yeast (Lewis Labs is the best), dulse and freshly ground flax-seeds. A glass of water kefir.

Dinner: Pork shoulder (marinated in mustard, sea salt, black pepper, tomato paste (from a jar not a can), and garlic powder and then slow cooked at 225 degrees for about 8 hours) eaten with slices of gruyere cheese (this is a fabulous combination by the way). Also, sauteed kale and a tomato, celery and orange bell pepper salad with olive oil, raw vinegar and sea salt.

After dinner: Green Pasture Fermented Cod Liver Oil mixed with Butter Oil and Kombucha. (Green Pasture is the only brand I would recommend for cod liver oil.) Cod liver oil taken with butter oil has a synergistic effect.