Breakfast Day 1 - By Sequoia Leopold

This morning was breakfast out with my husband. I ordered egg white scramble with spinach, tomato, mushrooms, and a side of roasted red potatoes.
It was at a restaurant so the portion size was a little too big, and I always eat everything on my plate (bottomless pit). I was able however to ask for everything to be cooked in olive oil so it was still dairy free. Delicious!
I avoided the fresh sugar donuts that were served at the beginning of our breakfast.

The Begining - Groceries and Superfoods by Sequoia Leopold

Groceries - Favorite Fresh Foods

After we were on vacation for a week we came back to a house full of spoiled food...and this was our opportunity to restart and fill the kitchen with highly dense nutritious foods.   Cut out almost all sugars and artificial processed foods.

1.) The only meat I will be eating is fish, and I am trying to take out all other animal products

Challenges -
  It seems that a lot of the foods I eat have animal product in them...Mayo...Egg Beaters (I am going to try egg substitute)
   Everything at restaurants is cooked in butter (have to request olive oil)

2.) Adding in a heavy amount of vegetables and fruit and superfoods

Challenges -
   What are superfoods?   I have gone to a couple websites to try to find out...this is what I found.
   How do I add them to my meals?  I will be experimenting with this!

A Superfood is defined by the level of antioxidants...and that is measured by the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity)...an average antioxidant rich food like blueberries has about 2400 per 100g.  A superfood such as raw Cocoa has about 98,000 ORAC.
These were the top 7 chosen by one website...

1. Chaga Mushroom (110,400) - I like mushrooms so I am gonna try to find this
2. Raw Cacao (98,000) - I love this...I usually buy a chocolate bar that is 85% cocao and have a square every couple days.
3. Goji Berries (25,300) - I can add this to my smoothie
4. Chia Seeds (8,000) - I dont know what these are or how to add them so that will be in the "maybe" pile
5. Acai Berries (5,500) - I love these so I will put them in my smoothie as well
6. Chlorella (5,000) - This is a green algae...I dont know if I will be trying this???  Maybe I can find it in a supplement that I can mix in my smoothie and I wont even know...
7. Camu Camu (3,200) - some sort of bushy tree found in the Amazon with little redish berries...I will find this too and add it to my smoothie. 

(Another site told me about Agave...but said to be careful when buying it cause a lot of brands will refine it and then it is no better the reg fructose sugar.)
Agave Nectar: Agave is a natural sweetener produced from the agave cactus native to Mexico. It is produced at low temperatures to protect its natural enzymes. Agave is low on the glycemic index making it a great sweetener for those with blood sugar issues. 

Blue Green Algae:  I want to try to add this, but I dont know how...If anyone can help me figure out what to put this in to add it to my diet I would love some advise.

There really is an endless amount of information out there about all these products and vitamins so I am going to go slow...I have filled my house right now with fresh and organic greens and fruits and fish.  I will add a multivitamin to my routine and then each day add some kind of superfood.

Intro to Sequoia

My name is Sequoia Leopold, married, 35 years old, proud mother of the sweetest Pomeranian since Bo.  I own my own business in the beauty industry and health and fitness have been a huge part of my life since I was young...but am I really doing the right things and making good choices.

My history...I was a gymnast when I was young, then a cheerleader, then a professional cheerleader in the NFL, then a runner (for fun only Im so slow), now into Crossfit.  I have always struggled with 5-25lbs my whole life and terrible skin.  I have done fad diets before and finally over the last 5-7 years felt like I was doing everything right.

After watching 'Food Inc' and 'Super Size Me'' I cut out fast food all together and limited my beef intake.  Then I made a switch to no dairy after hearing over and over that it was causing my life long acne:(  (I Love Cheese!!!!)  So I replaced it with occasional goat cheese.  It made a big difference, but I still break out a little here and there (too much in my opinion).

Then I watched 'Knives over Forks' and 'Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead'...those did not really register with me because I always thought "I like vegetables I eat them all the time, I dont need to juice and I dont eat 'bad' meats so what are they talking about.  Im not fat, Im not tired, and Im not depressed.  Moving on..."  I am not a fan of taking out something completely from my diet, kinda stubborn that way.

Then more recently I watched 'Food Matters' and 'Hungry for Change'.  Those two documentaries really sunk in and now I am on a mission to make some changes...This is going to be my diary of how I do it.

The point of this blog is to track progress and how I am feeling and all the challenges that come up.  This first post is a "get to know me and why I am doing this" the next entry will be "where I am at".  My weight, fat %, measurements, pics, and all my food and exercise I do right now.

Currently I work in a moderately active job, I dont have the stress of children (besides my husband, ;) ) and I have some financial flexibility to make good choices with food and exercise.  So I really should not have any excuse...but we always seem to find one, huh?!

My reasons for doing this..
1.) Vanity (I want to look younger, fresher, better skin)
2.) Energy (I want to feel alive, alert, and deal better with stress)
3.) Fertility (I have unexplainable by western doctors 'infertility'...and while I have done all the western IVF procedures...I hate them and wont do them again, so this is a chance to see what might really be the root of the problem)
4.) Mild Depression (Since the IVF I have had more wild swings of up and downs...not manic or depression by clinical standards...I can still function, but not normal for sure!)

Now that you know way more about me then you wanted to...you can follow my adventure with my husband and maybe join us in this project.  We welcome feedback, stories and struggles.