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health

Soda Pop

January 13, 2011 by gracefulfitness 8 Comments

A love story.

It all started back in September at the Heritage Harvest Festival.

Tate and I attended a workshop on fermented foods.

Until this day my love of good bacteria, probiotics, and healthy enzymes was limited to kombucha and lots of yogurt.

And then Dawn introduced me to the world of spicy kimchi, tangy sauerkraut, and bubbly kefir water soda.

[well, she didn’t actually introduce me because my dad used to make all kinds of ferments when I was little and he was following a Macrobiotic diet. at the time I just thought it was all “weird” and slightly embarrassing when my friends came over.  oh boy, I can’t wait to embarrass my own future children!]

As soon as I got home I dove into making my own fermented veggies.

I loved the idea that I could use that giant $2 head of cabbage that I bought at the farmer’s market to make some ‘kraut that would last me weeks.  And fiery kimchi soon became a household favorite to add a little zing to any meal.

I ♥ bacteria.

🙂

I have seen improvements in my digestion, appetite (smaller), and a strengthening of my immune system since I added more fermented food into my life.

Back at the festival Dawn told us about making “soda” from water kefir grains and let us sample a few flavors from her cabinet.  Many of you have probably heard of the milk/yogurt drink Kefir, water kefir is the same thing except it ferments in water instead of milk.

In order to make kefir soda you have to have grains, which you can buy or get from someone else because once you start the process the grains multiply and you end of having loads of them.  Dawn was talking about websites to buy grains from when an audience member raised her hand and offered to give grains to anyone in the C’ville area.

I took her e-mail but soon got side tracked by a new love of fermenting vegetables and a cabinet full of kombucha.

The other day I saw the e-mail address tacked to the side of my fridge and decided I would give kefir grains a go.  Stephanie promptly returned my inquiry and said that she would be happy to leave me some grains on her front porch (she’s not home much).

She conveniently lives just a half a mile or so from me so I trotted on over there on Tuesday morning and found this waiting

Directions and everything!  Thanks Stephanie!  I left a little jar of my homemade lavender salt and a thank you note in it’s place.

When I returned home I quickly got to work on my first batch.  And just as quickly finished!  Kefir soda is super easy to make, the grains do 95% of the work!

The hard part is the waiting while it ferments but at least it is much quicker than kombucha (1-2 days instead of 1-2 weeks!).  After waiting 48 hours I eagerly got to work on the second step.

After the first 24 hour ferment

The grains from the bottom of the jar, they remind me of tapioca balls from “bubble tea”

I poured off the watery liquid into clean, empty kombucha bottles and added a splash of homemade grape juice to each

Now I wait.  In a day or so these bottles will start to get all fizzy and be ready to drink!

The flavoring possibilities are endless with popular ones being vanilla and lemon, both of which I am excited to try next!

I am SO looking forward to a 4:30 Vinyasa yoga class this afternoon at the gym!  My body with going to thank me from the inside out as soon as I hit the mat. 🙂

If you are missing COMMENT COMMIT from the holidays, no worries, let’s keep it going on Facebook!  Every morning I will post my workout plan on Gracefulfitness’s page and if you want a little extra push/bragging rights add your workout plan (or accomplished workout) as a comment.

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Posted in: Fermented Food, goals, yoga Tagged: Farmer's Market, food choices, goals, health, immune system, Kefir Soda, kimchi, kombucha, sauerkraut, yogurt

Goo

January 8, 2011 by gracefulfitness 5 Comments

What the?!?!

Time for a little QEEG time!

What the?!?!?!

It all started last week when I got an e-mail from my friend Jessica.  She lives here in C’ville but actually we go back

That’s her on the right and then me, my older sister, and my younger sister. 🙂

Anyho, her e-mail read

Faith,
I was just reading your blog about having insomnia.  You should come in and try neurofeedback.  Sleep is one of the first things I’m able to improve with NF.  I’ll do 5 sessions on you for free so you can get a taste and see if it helps you if you’re interested.  I am sloooow right now, so finding a time won’t be a problem on my end.  Maybe we could even arrange it around a lunch date or something.  🙂  Obviously no pressure either if it doesn’t feel like the right time.
J

My response?

You just made my day.  Seriously. I need help and was at a loss as too which direction to head.  When can I come in?  THANK YOU!

You see, Jessica is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling and practices Neurofeedback.   She specializes in ADD, PTSD, anxiety disorders, and depression, and, like her e-mail said, sleep is one of the first things to be improved with Neurofeedback treatment.

Our first appointment was Wednesday and we spent about 35 minutes talking about my history of insomnia (all 7.5 years of it!!!), past treatments (acupuncture helps a bit, Valarian makes me wired), and whether I have ever sustained a head injury (why, yes, in fact I have).  Then we went out to lunch. 🙂

My second appointment was yesterday and it was all about the brainwaves.

Those are my brainwaves!

But first came the crazy cap and the goo electrode conductive gel. The gel goes into each of the twenty sensors in the cap to ensure good electrical contact (not as scary as it sounds, I only felt the slight pressure of the tight cap, NOT the electricity).

 

The red dots changed color on the monitor when contact was made. (Yep, that pink blob on the top of the screen is “my” nose! :/)

 

 

I think I was plugged into this ↑ thing, which was talking to the computer.

Once I was capped and sufficiently gelled Jessica instructed me to sit still with my eyes closed for 7 minutes.  The hard part was that I wasn’t supposed to get droozy or dose off but stay alert.  Then I sat for still for 7 minutes with my eyes open but gazing down into my lap.

By the end…

 

…I looked like I was on drugs and had gone a little wild with some bad hair gel!

The purpose of the Quantitative Electroencephalogram (QEEG) is to gather information about the patients brain activity to assist in diagnosis and treatment (Jess, please jump in and correct me if I am misspeaking on any of this).  From my QEEG we saw that I had many big theta waves in the front of my brain

 

Jessica said that just from seeing this (and not knowing me or my history of insomnia) she would suspect that I constantly fell like I am “wading through mushy oatmeal”.  Actually yes, I am familiar with that feeling :(.

Overall it was a painless and fascinating experience.  I am excited to see what comes next!

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Posted in: Uncategorized Tagged: health, insomnia
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I am Faith Levine, a movement instructor, home gardener, mountain biker, hiker, pickle maker, closet poet, and best of friend to some of the most amazing women in the world.

I’d love to hear from you,
gracefulfitness@live.com

Header photo: Meredith Coe

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Hi, I'm Faith! New? Check out I Am for my story, I Cook for recipes, and I Move for some motivation to get moving! I'd love to hear from you, e-mail me gracefulfitness@live.com
Header photo: Meredith Coe

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