Hmmmm....I've been learning something about my wonder drink that I should probably think about.  I have been drinking a blend of organic apple juice, blueberries, chia seed and spinach almost every day for many months now and have felt like that was the best way for me to get my greens.  I knew (vaguely) that "greens" have high oxalate levels that can build up in your system but I didn't think that spinach could be a bad guy.  We got a batch of produce this morning that included a bunch of collard greens.  I had seen a video recently that touted the use of a daily green drink but that you should vary your greens - spinach one day, collard greens the next, kale another day, etc...  You get the picture.  I wondered then how good that could be for you because I understood that some greens should be cooked well, sometimes even multiple times to decrease the amount of oxalate.  I googled "collared greens eating raw" (something like that anyway) and found an interesting article that validated my questions.  Click here to read the article.  I think I need to rethink how I get my veggies every day.  Too bad, really, because as a chronic procrastinator the idea of throwing that stuff into a drinkable concoction really appealed.

***So I just googled "does lettuce have high oxalate leves" and what did I get?  This article that completely contradicts the first article that I linked to.  What will I do?  The first article suggests that people with candida (me) should limit exposure to oxalates because it has fungal properties.  AAAARRRRRGH!!!  Why can't people just agree on truth.  I wish that I knew just what to do for my body.  It's frustrating to not know.  So what am I going to do?  I think that I'll experiment with other veggies in my "green smoothie".  Maybe cucumbers, bell peppers, lettuce...  I really like the idea of pouring whole fruits and veggies into my system every day.  Maybe I just need to do a better job of adding variety and giving in to the principle of chewing.

Interestingly I went about a week without my green drink and my stiff joints have improved to the point that I can now kneel for prayer without pain.  Coincidence?  I really don't know.  My exercise level has also been ramped up and it's the second week of no sugar, no dairy, and no white flour.  Who knows?

I'm also melting fat like I stuck my gluteous maximous in a hot oven.  Weird to think about.  I got on the scale (after no BM yesterday) expecting to see 207-ish only to see 205.4.  WHAT!!!?  In my mind these are Biggest Loser kinds of numbers.  I still really worry about baby girls' health because of what's floating around in my blood stream and being added to my breast milk (I sincerely hope that by adding the word "breast" that my blog isn't inundated with odd people of ill-repute and shady purposes).  Baby girl had a HORRIBLE night last night but I THINK it was from mosquito bites...16 or 17 of them, about 6 on one little forearm and hand.  I feel like a terrible mother to have exposed her to those venomous little buggers.

This morning I ate 2 of my miracle waffles with almond butter and my sugerless strawberry preserves, 1/2 an avocado cut-up and placed onto slices of European cucumbers.  I feel pretty darned good right now considering my hellish nigh with baby girl.  It was one of those tortuous nights that feels like a really bad dream and will....not....end.........  It even included my 5-year-old boy with an earache.  I couldn't really wake up enough to take care of him so he just writhed on the couch next to my recliner moaning and crying. I felt terrible about it but could not wake up all the way.  Plus, I had a sleeping baby on my lap that I just knew would start crying again if I moved.  Finally, at about 4 am I tried to instruct him on how to find Netflix on the PC.  After a half an hour and his starting the crying routine again I bit the bullet and got up to help him.    Turned out the computer had completely shut down after automatic updates and I needed to log in again.  Poor boy.  I got him situated and went and laid down with the baby.  Couldn't stay asleep after 7 because of all the noise generated by a house of children waking up, so, I've been up ever since trying to make something out of this day.  Why did I write all of that?  Because I feel tremendous considering how little sleep I got.  Tremendous...and a bit tired, but happy-ish?  I've had worse days this week so I'll take this and be content.

Positives this morning?   205.4 on the scale (down from 216), buttoned a shirt that I have never been able to wear since I bought it because, well, it was just too tight for my liking, washed a few dishes, made sweet potato puree for baby girl and froze 2 ice-cube trays worth.  Feeling pretty good...