discovering a new taste sensation.

Those of you who have been regular followers of the blog (are there really any of you? oh well, let's assume shall we?) will know of my struggles earlier this year with some health issues involving my sleep. I had a serious bout of insomnia for a couple of months on top of some exhaustion and things were not pretty. I've always had trouble sleeping and even when I do sleep I rarely wake up feeling rested. Anyhow, this has been an ongoing battle for most of my life but particularly the last few months as I've not fully recovered from the hoopla earlier. What this amounts to is some desperation on my part to try just about anything to get a good night's sleep. I've tried melatonin and various and sundry herbal concoctions. I've used chamomile and other teas. I've taken hot baths and sniffed lavender and even tried my hand at visualization. Everything works a tiny bit for a tiny while but nothing has proven to be a saving grace.

The latest venture is a diet plan that is designed to target your hormones in helping you to lose weight. I'm not too concerned about the weight thing (though who doesn't have a couple of pounds or inches they wouldn't cry to part with) but the hormone thing caught my attention.

Supposedly whichever hormone is out of whack affects where you carry your weight and/or what symptoms you have.  For the first two weeks you focus on healing your liver which regulates all the other hormones in your body. If you can get your liver functioning properly it should improve the other things (for me it would be sleep, skin, energy, breathing) as well as helping to boost your metabolism and lose weight. Basically you eat just veggies and most fruits-no grains, no sugar, very limited protein.  Sugar is the great evil and the body doesn't recognize the difference between a sugar cookie and a bowl of pasta, it all turns into insta carbs and elevates the blood sugar and this strains the liver which then messes up the hormones. Too much protein is hard on the liver as well and so many of them are treated with hormones (meat, dairy, eggs) that they cause their own issues. The goal is to be super strict for 2 weeks and then depending on which hormone type you are you can add a few other things in sparingly but mostly you just stick to the vegetables.

I'm running a 5K later this month and figured that was a good goal line to work towards and a little beyond the inital two weeks. After the run I can gauge how I'm feeling and if I think it's made enough of a difference for me to stick with it or throw in the towel. I'm about halfway through and so far no great changes to report. I'm still tired, still not sleeping well, my skin, digestion and other things are about what they were before as well (and my pants aren't any looser!) but I'm hanging in there. Hoping for the miracle while simultaneously craving bread and chocolate!

But on the upside, I've discovered some foods I would never have given much thought to. Like beets.  Who knew beets could be delicious? I've come across some fantastic (and super healthy) veggie recipes that I thought I'd pass on so you can share in the joy of eating some tasty, healthy foods as well.

• White Bean and Kale Soup
• Oven Roasted Cauliflower
• Balsamic Roasted Vegetables
• Various Spaghetti Squash Incarnations
• Kale Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
• Roasted Beets with Lemon Vinaigrette

I'll revisit this after I've run my race and let you know what the final verdict is. But at the very least I'm practicing some self-control which I don't do often enough in my life. (I've even voluntarily eaten cauliflower three times in the past two weeks. That's huge!) Do you have any favorite veggie recipes you'd like to share?  I'd love to try them!!