Back on the wagon...or should I say back to the juicer?

It's been months since I last posted. Sickness, my husband's new job, his loss of that job, another new job, a new year, a new town, a new home - life has a habit of standing in the middle of my health road, and the worst thing is that I let it.

But there is nothing like a big health scare to push life to the side and force you back to the middle of the single lane healthy living highway! 

My heart is not happy. 

I have lost 9 kilograms (about 20 lbs) in the last six months, and I have kept it off. It wasn't difficult, but it did take determination and a mindset of not being tempted by what those around me chose to eat. I am half-way to goal weight now, so another 9 kilos to lose and I can honestly say I am in the normal weight range for my height and age.

Over the last couple of weeks this goal has taken on new urgency, so I felt a boost to my enthusiasm was needed. God heard, because I saw this dvd amongst the apples in the fruit & veg section of my local supermarket and didn't flinch at placing it right into my trolley...

Mr E and I spent a good portion of this afternoon watching it, and believe me, it was worth the $20 I paid for it!  Visit the website HERE for more information.

So here I am about to get back to documenting my healthy living journey once more. The stakes are higher now, but the outcome will be the same - a healthy, fit body, able to handle the remaining years God has given me on earth.

Tomorrow I will be stocking up on greens for juicing, and menu planning based on the DASH diet for a healthy heart. I'm also using the CSIRO Healthy Heart Program book as that is pretty similar and more relevant to Australian resources.

Have you seen the DVD, or tried the DASH diet?

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