Countdown

In a week we will be starting a work competition to do 3 things a)cut out sugar (argh!!!!) b)sleep at least 7hrs per night (given so many of us are shift workers this will be interesting) and c) move continuously at least 20 mins per day. I'm feeling good about b and c not so good about a. At least its a competition so I can get my competitive streak out. But I really don't know how I'm going to cope, its not just sugar, its no dried fruit, no smoothies, no fruit juice, theres a whole big list of things we're not allowed to eat. I don't know what I'm going to eat. I told my workmate the competition website has a dessert that is ok to eat but its loaded with fat (half an avocado, coconut cream, cocoa powder etc) and she told me I'm not allowed it because its fatty. Well I'm not sure what I'm going to be eating if I'm not allowed fat or sugar, and only 2 pieces of fruit per day. I asked if I could still have my green smoothie each morning and the question has gone to their dietician to see what they have to say. I don't really agree with traditionally taught dieticians though, they are too versed in the agriculture departments food pyramid, designed to get us to eat lots of bread and pasta which isn't that healthy. If it actually was a healthy food pyramid, vegetables would be on the bottom as the "eat most" especially greens, followed by fruit, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, maybe after that dairy and eggs, I'm not sure what would be on the top as "eat least" but still healthy - maybe processed food. When the calorie equation was created in 1918, most processed food hadn't even been invented, it seems to wreak havoc on the human body, and maybe we just all need to get back to food as close as possible to the way nature made it. Well will see how I go next month.

Smoothies, Soups & Salads

So for the next 4 weeks I have decided to embark on a wholefoods diet and also do a spring herbal detox cleanse, in yet another effort to rid my system of toxins and lose weight. I seem to attempt detoxes on a regular basis, but rarely ever last as long as I intend to, usually at the 3 day mark I smell something diabolically delicious & throw in the towel. On day 2 (I started last Saturday) my aunty bought me over two amazingly decorated cupcakes which I couldn’t bear to throw out nor eat. So I came to a compromise, I tasted the icing on both, ok well if I’m being honest I ate all the chocolate icing on one, tasted the almond icing on the other, tried a small amount of each cupcake and threw the rest out.

But yesterday I was super good. I got invited to dinner at my auntys (she is a brilliant cook) and I thought about skipping the invitation but I also wanted to see my sisters new car, she was also going to be there, so I made myself some food & took it with me. It worked amazingly well.

So the cleanse I’m doing is called Brett Elliots Ultimate Herbal Detox which goes for 10-14 days, you take herbal pills morning & night and can only eat or drink smoothies, soups, salads, herbal teas and juices. Basically you can only eat fruits, vegetables and herbs, with a little bit of olive oil with salads. Last time I did it (in January) it did make me feel a lot better, unfortunately as soon as I ended I went on a road trip where I undid all the good results from the detox. So I’m hoping that this time it will work out a lot better.

I’ve had a cold/flu since last Thursday which hasn’t been fun either, I’ve been coughing almost non stop and generally feeling like crap, I had a headache for 3 days straight which thankfully has gone now, I’m only just starting to feel a bit better today so hopefully things can only improve from here on.