Thursday, June 6, 2013

What have I done?

Thursday 6th June, 2013 


It dawned on my yesterday exactly what I had said I was going to give up with no processed for for 28 days.

To be honest, I dont think I will make.

My day started with a womens bible study group and believe it or not the subject was facing temptations. Sitting on the table while we had our cuppas were scones with jam and cream, lemon slice, carrot cake (from a packet) and some orange cake. AHHHHHHHHHH. I was good. I had nothing.

Then we had to go out in the afternoon, which meant we would be out for tea. So while the family ate pies and pasties, I had remembered to grab the last little bit of left over vegie soup from the fridge. Boy am I glad I didn't have it for lunch like I had planned.

So the thoughts did start to run through my head, what have I done? I might end up being a bit more "loosey".

Anyway, I just also wanted to share a really yummo recipe that I made on day 2. Chickpea and spinach burgers. I found the recipe while surfing some time ago and fell in love with it as its vegan and gluten free. I got it from Tale of Two Vegans Click on their name and if I have done things correctly it should take you straight to the recipe. It was posted back in 2009 but its a great recipe. 

I did make some changes, like I left out the soy sauce and I also baked them instead of fry them. I baked them at 180C for 15 minutes and then turned and baked for another 15 minutes.

I did make up a double batch so I could have some left over, but my teenagers devoured them. Oh well at least I know they were eating something healthy.

Wish me luck as I start out on day 4.

Bec.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Behind the Challenge

Tuesday 4th June, 2013

Day 2 of the 28 day challenge. Lucky me, I live in Australia so I'm ahead of all my fellow Americans by half a day in this challenge, which means I will finish first, maybe??????

Really I'm just trying to eat a lot healthier. I'm glad the rules are a bit "loosey goosey" as Lindsay said on her blog, as to what processed is.

A couple of years ago I had a bad rash on my hands. The doctors only wanted to give me some creams to help relieve the discomfort. "You'll probable never find the cause, best just to use this" said the doctor handing me a script.

Well I found a cause, food. After speaking to a friend who is a naturopath, I eliminated a few things from my diet. 2 to be exact. Dairy and wheat. Within 1 week the rash I had had for 3 months, and that was only getting worse and spreading up my arms, was gone.

A bit more testing and talking with my friend and we eliminated some other things as well. Soy, gluten, cashews, almonds, yeast, oats and a few things I can't remember now as they were not really in my diet to begin with. An interesting thing happened.

I felt bad, really bad, really REALLY BAD. For about a week. The first couple of days were ok, but then it hit. My joints ached, every muscle in my body hurt, I was crabby and cranky and I did not have a problem in letting people know. And I was tired. By the end of the second week, I felt fantastic. I started to discover I had symptoms I never new were symptoms.

Things like walking up stairs no longer hurt, not that it hurt much before, but I could feel the difference. I had an ease of movement and didn't feel like it was an effort to be walking up the steps.

I didn't need my horizontal life pauses. I found that I could stay up later at night. It had become such a routin for me to crawl into bed at 7:30 on a friday night and sleep until 7:30 the next morning. I was actually starting to stay up later than the kids.

I could think! I had heard of people talking about a brain fog before and had laughed it off, but I had it. I didn't relize it at all until it went away and suddenly I knew what brain fog was. My skin cleared up, I started to lose weight. I had alwasy been hungry. It seemed some days that I was a bottomless pit and nothing would fill me up. But after that first 2 weeks, I lost my craving, my hunger. I would look back on what I had eaten all day and think "Man, how did that ever fill me up?"

Then after 3 months of being really super strick, it was time to try out the no-no foods. To work out which ones, my body could cope with and which ones I was never going to eat again. The theory being that after giving my body and immune system a time of healing I might be able to reintroduce some of the foods.And that my friends is where I fell off the wagon big time.
Coupled with moving and life in general, my eating habits went back to what they had been several months before, because that was what was easy. I cut back on a lot of things and tried to minimilise how much i was eating of certain things, which I'm sure has kept me out of major trouble.

But.......

Over the last 2 years I have learnt that I can survive on eating anything, but not live fully, Sure I dont get major cramps or have to run to the toilet. I have trouble remembering, it hurts just that little bit to move, I have no energy to do anything fun. I now know that what I am feeling now is not normal motherhood, as one doctor tried to tell me years ago when I complained about my tiredness.

So that brings me to today. Time to reassess what I'm doing to my body. Time to listen to it and find out what it likes and doesn't like.So here's hoping this whole food challenge will kick start me into gear.


Bec.


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Monday, June 3, 2013

A Challenge

Monday 3rd June, 2013

 
 

 

There, I said it. Three times in fact. I'll say it again.

I'm taking the 28-day Whole Food Challenge.

Lindsay from the Happy Herbivore has set up a challenge for anyone that is interested. I encourage you all to go and have a look. Your body will thank you.

I am doing well so far, quinoa and rice porridge with fruit salad for breakfast this morning, yummo. Hopefully the next 27 and half days will be as good.

Bec.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

There is life...................................

Sunday 2nd June, 2013.

Well what do you know, there is life after homeschooling. One could be forgiven in thinking that I had infact died when the coffin was sealed on homeschooling. Its been a long time since the last posting.

What to do with myself is a question I am still asking. No longer are my days filled with teaching or researching curriculums. Leaving the homeschooling scene was not my first choice and there are days that I get pangs of wanting so badly for my kids to return home.

My blog got neglected as it was originally set up to record our homeschooling activites.I have decided that I will now turn it into a journal of my thoughts and activites as I try to figure out what to do with myself. Who knows what I will come up with.

I'm always quick to tell others that there is a season for everything, just because one door closes doesn't mean others wont open.Its also no reason for just stopping. How do I know if a door is locked or not if I dont try and open some.

Its funny, I was asked what I enjoyed doing the other day and I really couldn't think of anything straight off the top of my head. Can "nothing" really be considered doing something? 

So I shall see what I can come up with. There has to be something out there for me to sink my teeth into. Hopefully it wil be an interesting journey as I discover more about myself and how to live outside of homeschooling.

Bec.