Seeing results...

I am really proud of how well I have been able to stick to this low-carb/sugar-free diet. I have had a couple of days where the sweet tooth has cried out for a sugar hit, but I fed it with grapes or an orange and it soon settled. 

To date I have lost 2.6kgs (almost 6 pounds), and I am rarely hungry. 

I am careful to add proteins to my daily salads; things like Tofu, chicken breast and nuts...

...as well as lentils, beans or chick peas.

On my doctor's advice I am careful not to eat fruits like melons as they are high GI and give your body a sugar rush. I eat lots of berries, especially in smoothies or with yoghurt, and I like to spoil myself with a passionfruit at breakfast.

The good carbs I eat are things like roasted sweet potato, which I toss through my salad.

Filtered water is a high priority, and apart from one soycinno per day it is all I drink.

Of course, I know that I can't stay this strict for the rest of my life, but after the doctor checked my blood pressure again this week and discovered it was already back to normal (yay!!!!), I am certainly convinced that at least 80% of my diet will need to stay this way.

That's ok. Life is about balance, so if I want to have a slice of sourdough bread once or twice a week, I will. I'll enjoy every crumb, and then settle back to what I know works best for my body. Once I have lost another 13kgs I can live on a maintenance plan, but for now I have that goal in sight - and the most important part of my goal is that a healthier me will result.

Healthy hugs,

Jenny

Changes afoot....

I shocked myself to see that it has been 4 months since I last posted here. Oops. If the truth be told, I fell off the wagon!

Yep, fessin' up.

I got so busy with life that I lost time to prepare good food every day for my family and myself. 

Some pretty scary health issues over the last couple of weeks (and a decision to drop much of my online activity) left me with no excuses for getting back to the kitchen and preparing foods that nourish, heal, and refresh.

I have adrenal fatigue, high cholesterol, borderline high blood pressure, and suspected Meniere's Disease - add to that chronic migraines since I was 12, and the fact that I am hypothyroid, and you can see why I can't play around with my health (and did I mention menopause and the fun it has with my internal temperature gauge??). My husband has the autoimmune disease Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, so getting his health to an optimum level is also my priority.

Firstly I studied adrenal fatigue because it has really been rocking my boat and the symptoms are all stress and diet related. This leads up to the cholesterol and blood pressure, so it had to be my starting point. 

I decided to drop all sugar and most carbohydrates for the time being. Today is day 7 and I am 1.6 kgs lighter, and after barely being able to lift my body off the bed a week ago, today I have felt no fatigue at all, and my main suspected Meniere's symptom (the extreme dizzy spells) have been barely noticeable.

As I have shared before, I love to go raw as much as possible, so that has once again been a big part of each day's diet. Adding in as many different fruits and vegetables as I can gives me an increased 'basket' of vitamins and minerals each day.

Juicing is back on the menu, especially with beetroot, celery and carrot as the base vegetables...

Here is a wonderful way to serve raw broccoli that is gentle on your stomach and digestive tract.

Chop the broccoli florets into small pieces...

Choose a healthy organic salad dressing (or use coconut oil and curry powder for an eastern tang), and add a couple of tablespoons to the broccoli....

Shake up and leave in the fridge for the day (if you make this in the morning) or overnight...

The broccoli will be soft by the time you eat it and so tasty that you'll not want to share any! :-)

Roasting trays of diced pumpkin and sweet potato, then storing in the fridge, allows me to add these wonderful vegetables to my salads each day. 

I have had 1/2 potato twice this week and plan to not stray far from that in the future - pasta, breads and rice are also off my list for the time being. Fruit, vegetables, salmon, legumes, occasional red meat, nuts and seeds, yoghurt, eggs - these make up most of my diet. I drink water all day long, but still allow myself one light soy-decaff-cappuccino per day, with a tiny sprinkle of stevia for sweetness instead of sugar.

Making my own fruit yoghurts helped with the hunger pains for the first few days...

...and for snacks mid-afternoon I had a small handful of these with a piece of fruit. 

My coffee grinder is back in action grinding flaxseeds, almonds and sunflower kernals to sprinkle over my salads and to add to yoghurts. I make enough to last a few days and store it in the fridge. 

~~~~~

7 days with no sugar started off very difficult. I was craving, no, screaming out, for something sweet in the first 3 days, but on day 4 it didn't matter at all. Bread was also difficult to avoid for the first few days, but I did, and now it's not an issue.

Today I feel better, have more energy, and am able to think with greater clarity, than I did 7 days ago. 

How will I feel after 14 days?

I'll tell you next Thursday.

Healthy hugs

Jenny

xx