Saturday, January 30, 2010

Wk 2 part 3

Well, its now the end of Wk 2 - thank you God for getting me this far!

Hmmm.... a few notes to take care of first - scalp is esp itchy and flaky, fingers and ankles very sore this morning. Wondering if the disturbed sleep at night is setting off my joint pain a bit more - have been waking at around 4.30 am each day but mainly because the bubba has been. Amazingly enough I haven't felt like I desp missed the sleep tho. Have actually stayed up to go to gym on those mornings - still need to get to bed at a respectable time at night to not crack it tho.

Big day of temptation but am so grateful I made it through without feeling deprived at all - its almost becoming mechanic in planning what I will eat and the preparation is really paying off. Huge bowl of fruit with some yoghurt and granola on top for breaky. So full, I did not need anything till lunch. Was out, and while everyone was eating fresh sangers, saus rolls and hot chips, I had brought along a nice little salad with some of my tandoori chicken sliced on top. Nice. At the bday party in the arvo I was sooooo relieved I brought along the fruit kebabs as there was nothing else I could eat (other than potato crisps) so I happily snacked on 4 or 5 of those. They served an early bbq dinner and really enjoyed the chicken kebabs (no marinade), a sausage and 2 lovely vege kebabs (altho discovered that there was some red wine vinegar in the marinade). Thought I'd be hungry when I got home (was planning a boiled egg) but have sufficed with a cuppa tea. I am really thrilled that I have made it through another week but I do realise that I have been extremely blessed to have been able to monitor things so well from home - if I'd been out more or over at people's places I think I would have had a lot more difficulty. I think its really important to be fairly sheltered the first few weeks while you're establishing the good habits, if it's too hard to do, it would be too much of struggle to keep going.

I am getting a bit forgetful with the bifidus powder every morning and with the sprays - need to keep working on that habit. And that's about it........can't wait for Week 3!!!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Week 2 Pt 2

Hmmm....another kilo down (2.5kgs in total). And I really don't feel like I'm losing out at all! I spose it will be harder on the weekend going to a birthday party and having all that stuff in front of me, because I don't have it here, so I don't get tempted. I've "offered" to contribute something for the party so I know that there will be something for me to eat - will take either mexican dip (layers of diced tomatoes, mashed avos, refried beans, grated cheese and sour cream on top) or some fruit kebabs. I have been out and about the last 2 days but have set in my mind what to look for to eat, and usually don't have too many troubles. Yest for lunch I once again had a citrus chicken salad at The Coffee CLub - just beautiful! But was surpised at how jealous of Bailey's ham and cheese on white bread sandwich I was - looked so fresh and delish....... So I ate fast to be filled up and made sure I did not touch his leftovers. Was happy to snack on a big piece of celery filled with sugar-free peanut butter for arvo tea - would have been even better sprinkled with raisins - humph!

Last night the kids had begged for tacos which was actually a great meal idea. I cooked the mince with tinned tomatoes and tomato paste and added sauteed onion, celery & parsley. I cut/grated/cubed lots of veges - toms, cukes, carrot, lettuce, avos, and had tinned pineapple and grated cheese. The taco shells were gluten free so I had one but only to dip into the big pile of salad I had on my plate (some meat on the bottom). Was very tasty and filled me up so did not have seconds. Did get peckish later tho as we'd had an early dinner and so had 2 choc fudge balls (they're nearly all gone...:(....) with a cuppa tea.

And this morning I attempted some Kale! Went with my sister's idea and sauteed garlic in some olive oil before adding shredded kale and letting it wilt a bit. I knew I prob still wouldn't enjoy it so then added a tin of sugar-free baked beans on top. Added a touch of agave syrup and salt and topped it all with a little grated cheese and carrot. Was surprisingly good, and very filling for a breaky. Will prob need a smoothee later on. So one taste test down!

Just desparately craving pizza tonight. Being Friday night and all, I'm wishing for an easy treat. Usually I would have my fave spelt pizza bases but this no grain thing's a bit of a killer. Wondering if I could attempt it on my corn wraps? The kids have their own mini pizza bases so it wouldn't be too strange for them.... Am I cheating???

I have felt really upbeat the last couple of days with the weight loss - and am still really enjoying the gym. Wanted to stay in bed this morning and listen to the rain, but got up and at it and my legs got a total thrashing - prob won't be able to walk much tomorrow! My trainer is commenting when she sees me that she can see a difference. And I don't think that it is so much to do with my body (altho I can already see certain changes - from the gym, not the food......yet) but in my attitude and energy. I am so much more positive and I actually do enjoy going so much more now - I do believe that it's made a tremendous difference. And I think changing my eating habits is now fueling my body better so that I can work that bit more effectively and still keep my energy levels up the rest of the day.

I still need to work on my inner peace tho. All this stuff is great but if my heart and life are not right with God and in line with His Word, it will all be in vain and very superficial. I know God desires the best for our bodies and minds and I am glad I am now honouring that. My body is the temple of His Holy Spirit, so nothing is too good for Him in that regard! But I do not want to let all this calculating, improvements, food 'obsessions' etc take away from what should be the most important thing of all - living my life for God, and giving Him the control to make my life even more meaningful and important to those around me, esp my family. He had blessed me with so much and is giving me such strength at this time - and so I praise Him.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Week 2

Well, it looks like I am down 1.5kgs as I get into the 2nd wk! Am very sceptical of the first few kgs that come off as if it happens too fast I am always worried that it will creep back on even faster. Actually I haven't explained the title of my blog so far, but you may have already guessed it. This is the closest I've ever been to hitting triple figures in my weight and whereas, thankfully, I've never made it there yet, I really feel like if I didn't follow thru on this it wouldn't be long till I hit 100 and over. May it never be!!!! I do look at my sister and see how she has consistently lost weight over a couple of years and that is big inspiration. This cannot be a short term thing, I know, so I must adjust my thinking to a "rest of my life" solution rather than thinking of this as quick fix diet (not that I was, but the temptation is still there to look forward to when it's over....).



So, symptoms have been interesting. I noticed a few nights ago my mouth was filled with ulcers, which seem to be settling down now. Also have a few more pimples which could be from the detox but also from change of facial cleanser. My ankles are still agonizing first thing in the morning, its murder coming downstairs for the first time in the morning. My temper flares are still only occasional but I think my attitude is a lot more upbeat and active at the start of the day. I want to get out and do things, I don't want to sit round like a lump and do nothing (well I do today seeing as it has been such a busy last 3 days), I'm happy to do stuff with the kids. I know I have way more energy in the mornings so the gym is easy to get to 3 mornings a week. I am actually looking forward to when it starts getting cooller and I can start back walking the kids to school again. I still wilt by arvo, but am hoping with the eldest 2 back at school today, I will be able to get a quick kip in the arvo before I face the onslaught of the after-school craziness - arvo tea, homework, extra-curricular activities, tea-making etc. I will have the b-sitter only 2 arvos a wk this year so will have to be well organised and get meals ready night before or in morning. There's no better set-up for a fall from grace than a tired, grumpy mother who is flat out of ideas and is too tired to make any effort!



Enough blathering! We had masses of visitors over the weekend and public holiday but have found it not all hard going. It has been a real blessing to have had fruit salad in the fridge most days as that makes breaky so quick and easy - fruit salad, a couple of dollops of yoghurt (Jalna low fat, sugar free, vanilla) and granola sprinkled on top - it really is quite filling and very refreshing. (Of course there is always coffee as well!)



One night we had Thai take-away with friends - I had enough leftovers from a bbq that I could've very well eaten from that but I NEEDED some thai! Was fine not having the rice and actually ate bean sprouts with all the dishes - chicken & cashews, penang curry & garlic prawns. THere is essentially not much wrong with the dishes but for all the OIL........*shudder* and I know there will be sugar in most of the sauces too - that seems to be the hardest for me to 1) check and 2) avoid. Could not believe I didn't touch the spring rolls & curry puffs. Needless to say, my body rebelled a bit later - ick. While over, a friend of mine, introduced me to Calorie King, saying that was what really helped him keep track of what he was eating and calories he was consuming and burning. Seems to be a great idea but seeing as the weight is only part of my issue, it seems to be way too much trouble to log in your meals (esp as mine are far from "normal" at times) all day, everyday. I know it works for my other sister too but still not convinced of its' effectiveness in this case.

Have noticed that a big lunch does take me thru to a light tea which is much better for the digestion. On Aus Day I didn't have hardly any nibblies (other than my devils on horseback - prunes wrapped in bacon - so yum!) but had a nice lunch of sweet potato and potato bake (half cream, half milk for sauce), big green salad, 2 bbq lamb cutlets, and coleslaw. Tried some of Sister's sugar-free icecreams for dessert and my fave was the mango (made with mascarpone cream), her fave was the s'berry & lychee, and I don't think the b'berry and choc was very chocolatey. I personally would have added a tiny bit of agave to make it that little bit sweeter! Also tried Vik's sugar-free brownie (had a bit of honey in it, but mainly dates) and to me it tasted just like a date cake - it is amazing how cake-like the consistency is! I have my own recipe to try but would still be interested to compare them at some stage. For dinner that evening I had a small plate of scrambled egg on greens - spinach & beetroot leaves.

I am enjoying getting back an appreciation for dried fruits and how sweet they are - my favourite is the sundried organic raisins. They are so juicy and sweet and I have converted most of my kids with them. I am looking forward to trying my choc fudge balls with the raisins instead of dates. I am trying to pack a little zip lock bag with raisins, apricots, toasted almonds and walnuts to take with me each day - its always surprising when the snack attack hits you! The almonds are a great source of calcium (which I need) and the toasting is important to kill off any fungies on outside (part of candida).

Also starting to substitute sugar in coffee with coconut palm sugar - much lower GI so a little bit better than most. Will have to start carrying round a little pkt with me too for coffees out. So much for cutting down coffees! I had 3 today but they are such a filling treat for me that I seem to need more than 2. Hmmmm..... will have to work on it more a bit later on.

Oh, and I did recieve my blood tests back (finally) and it didn't show up any reoccurrences of Ross River or Glandular Fevers! And thank goodness the Antibodies test was also negative - will now wait for the Homeopath's interpretation of results....

Well, off to have some dinner now. Have just cooked some chicken breast coated in tandoori paste and natural yoghurt to have with some salad and enough leftover for tomorrow too. Really, really need to stock up on fruit and veg again too - it's neverending now that school is back. Had a headache this arvo but first one for a while and am quite surprised at that. More to do with stress of being back to school routine I think. Till next I write...........

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Day 6 & 7

Sitting here early in morning trying to catch up a bit and revelling in my glass of lemon water - feel a bit blah after big bbq last night and 2 glasses of champagne - no headache but a bit itchy down below - maybe too much information but I gotta be real about it all.....

On Day 6 I had a great but tiring gym session and after a coffee first up, I was once again a bit late with breaky but eventually had some chilli scrambled eggs by mid-morning. TOok the kids to HJs as No 2 had a party there - dropped her off and let the kids have some nuggets and chips. I drank a whole bottle of water and picked at a couple of fries. I got home and defrosted some Indian lentil soup - mainly lentils, herbs and veges. Not so great but Ok with extra bean sprouts and radish sprouts on top. Popped out to the fruit and vege in the arvo with the kids to stock up on lots of fruit, green leafies, and some raddichio and parsnips for some nice ideas I have up my sleeve. Lots of samples out so the kids went a bit nuts. One of the shop guys complimented me on my lovely kids and even gave them stickers for being so good - a rare occurence that!

Felt really bummed in the arvo - and a bit teary. Sick of the stupid diet, sick of having to think about food all the time, sick of feeling sore, sick of feeling left out, sick of having to be careful, sick of having to go to soooo much effort. Had a sniff to the husband and we decided to go out for dinner - so I wouldn't have to cook and so I could "practice" finding good things on a menu. Ended up at a nice restaurant (was feeling very ratty with the kids too - so over all their whinging and No 2 was very tired after party allllllll afternoon, so pretty impatient and going a bit nuts around them) and kids all ordered pasta and I convinced Luke to get no bread for starters (as I know I would have guzzled it all) or a pizza (yumm.....too tempting) but that we share a prawn platter and a salad. He also got a grilled haloumi starter so we had a regular little feast. The salad was one of my faves - rocket, pear, herbed ricotta, super-crispy pancetta in a viniagrette. THe prawn platter (what an amazing idea) was prawns done 4 ways - fresh cooked prawns, prawns in cream sauce (I avoided), prawns in wanton wrappers (couldn't help myself) and sweet chilli prawns (and they were divine!) I know there would have been some sugar in some of these sauces but I reckoned I did well out of what could have turned into a potentially disastrous situation. Felt full and happy after and ready for a night with the girls.

Left the others to go home (and back to find our home broken into - but that's another whole drama - just thankful nothing ended up taken, just a completely shattered sliding door!) and drove all the way out to The Valley for games night. I had made a lovely platter of selected fruit and was so glad I brought something as there was nothing else for me to eat. And it was hard not to just try a few M & ms, or some mango ice cream (homemade), have a few cheezels, or a magnum iceblock! I mean hello, I don't know how I made it looking back now. I think in those situations Cherries seem to be the best snack because they feel more special and more interesting than just plain cut up fruit. Just drank water all night too altho there was my fave punch there too - sigh! But the whole aim of the night was not lost on me - and was proud of making it thru, and what's more - I had a blast!!! I prob just really needed to get out for a bit and relax. Home very late tho, and then was up half the night with scared kids and a baby who would not sleep in her cot.

Day 7 and was trembling and sick from lack of sleep. Everyone up at 5.30 and feeling terrible. Hubby cleaning up glass, kids watching some tv, so I went to have a little more lie-down but couldn't rest. In-laws over and so ended up making them breaky (bacon & eggs, coffee) before making some for me and hubby - good ole comfort food. Another coffee and then off to Chiro. I tend to find my back and neck are the biggest losers whenever I try to "better" my life - because the effects normally manifest in my dodgy spine. So will keep up fortnightly visits for a while as there is a lot of tightness and I had a fair bit of pain in my neck from an incident a couple of wks ago. She is also a great sounding board so it is wonderful therapy overall!

Went to lovely butcher and got 2 marinade butterfly chickens for bbq that night and some lamb racks for in a few days. Few more groceries and fresh bread for the others and home. SOooooo hot and didn't feel like eating so fed kids, and had a lie down - slept a bit on & off, kids had great nap. Glass door replaced meanwhile and was a bit noisy - also 2 police visitations - forensics, and then just normal cops to take down report. Got up and got busy preparing for friends' visit that evening. Chopped up a heap of veges to roast on bbq - fennel (my fave), roast caps, eggplant, asparagus and red onion wedges - left them to marinate in salt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar - completely forgetting that I shouldn't have vinegar (fermenting grapes - a no, no on candida) but boy they were awesome and I am really looking forward to the leftovers. Knew I had to have some lunch so had turkey, avo, cheese and salad on some corn flat bread - toasted in sandwich press, very nice.

For the nibblies I'd put out my hommous with cukes, snow peas, caps slices and provided natural corn chips to have with the mexican dip my friend had bought - refried beans, salsa, sour cream, grated cheese. Not so healthy but I wasn't breaking too many rules. Had also made 2 other salads - my own rocket, pear, parmesan, crispy bacon salad, and a coleslaw made out of 2 types of cabbage, carrot, capsicum, shallots, and light mayo dressing. It all was delicious but know I ate way too much - felt gluggy after and none of us could eat any dessert which was prob the best thing there - yummy fruit salad and rasp coulis! Well, at least I have a delish breaky waiting for me now!

I have been apprehensive that this busy weekend will lead to some bad "short cuts" - I know I should be paying more attention to ingredients in sauces and marinades but have just needed things to be easier not harder. I don't know, it may lead to a bit of a "thorn in my side" if I don't get more meticulous in the little things. Bit disappointed in how much I ate too - should be cutting down my portions and being thankful for more leftovers so I have options ready for the next day but I spose I just didn't have my brain switched on terribly well, and that could be mainly from the champagne - der! I did enjoy it but quite happy to now REST from alcohol and my treat will continue to be Appletiser - sparkling Apple juice with no added sugar.

And will chat more tomorrow, or today.......

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Day 4 & 5

Hmmmm....skipped a day but not because I was guilty of wrongdoing! These last 2 days I have been pretty tired and wonder if it's maybe the withdrawals setting in??? I'm sure the sunburn and busyness haven't helped either, it's almost back to school time and trying to get back into routines is killing me. Tonight I am literally immovable on the couch - exhausted. My plan has always been to do as much as possible in the morning when I feel great and then I can relax and nap and not do much in the arvo. However, today I was busy all morning, and all arvo and now it feels like I will melt into the ground. This also conincides with some sneezing and a bit of sniffling which is definately not normal.............. we'll see. My feet have been super-sensitive too, when my toes are knocked its like they have broken and my ankles are still very painful. I really am looking forward to when this eases.

Yest I took my carrot sticks and hommous to the beach as my morning tea while everyone else had their iceblocks - totally fine! Home to leftover curry for lunch with lots of green leafies. Made the kids spag bol for dinner but as Luke was out at an awesome meal, I wanted to treat myself and so followed a luscious bacon & eggs - not terribly healthy I know but at least not breaking any rules. Ran out of lemons too which was annoying as I have been enjoying my lemon waters. Went to Wrays (good plug) and stocked up on veges & bananas but wasn't game to buy the kale just yet. Still looking for some flours I can use - quinoa or buckwheat but not desperate yet.

(Just looking out at my family going crazy outside and sooo thankful to God for a husband who is so active in looking after his family. Wish I could join in but happy to watch from here for now.)

And to today - skipped breaky (another reason for tiredness?) and YES I KNOW - it was soooo stupid. Got waylaid and found myself rushing out the door with only a few carrot sticks under my belt - but was determined not to stuff just anything in my mouth because I was starving. After speech therapy with MR 3, I searched till I found a cafe that did a nice grilled chicken salad - delish with lots of avo. At home I followed this with a bowl of yoghurt topped with banana, blueberries (the organic ones at the moment just 'pop' in yr mouth & I don't care how expensive they are) and some granola. Picked at the kids popcorn later but waited till dinner - roasted chook legs, sweet pots, carrots and red onion, with another big salad on the side (with mango in it). So looking forward to dessert in a minute (trying to finish eating by 7 pm each night so I give my body a bit of a rest thru the rest of the night) because I am having ICE CREAM! Do not scream - it is Raw Vegan and made from cashew butter, agave syrup, cacoa powder etc. Will let you know the verdict tomorrow!

Found that today was the first day I was not prepared enough with my meals and snacks. Really need to stay on top of that if I don't want to fall. Just dreading how rushed it will all be once school starts back next week but need to rely on God's strength & wisdom, not my own. But always open to easy, healthy suggestions anyone has. Oh yes, I was gonna make some soups to have as standbys - I forgot that. And I think tomorrow night I will try an Indian lentil dish for something different. May not post tomorrow night as there's a girls' game night I'm going to - will be taking a big bowl of fruit salad & some raspberry coulis to drizzle on top (blended frozen raspberries, filtered water and agave syrup) and that will be my contribution to dessert!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Day 3

So the Granola worked pretty well - wasn't that crunchy after being cooked but prob because it was a bit moist when i mixed it altogether. I looked at a lot of different recipes but I'll put down what I decided to put in it, which is of course dependent on what you have in your pantry: (all ingredients are organic and water used was filtered)

# 1 1/2 cup almonds
# 1 cup macadamias
# 1 cup sunflower seeds

(all soaked together o/night and then drained and rinsed before using)

# 1 cup sultanas
# 1/2 cup dried apricots chopped small

(soaked in 3/4 cup water o/night - it will absorb a lot of the water but drain any excess off)

# 1/2 cup golden linseeds
# 1/4 cup sesame seeds

(soaked in 1/2 cup of water and o/night will become gelatinous so all mixture will be used)

In a food processor chop up your nuts and sunflower seeds to desired size, then empty into a big bowl.

Put dried fruit & seeds in food processor and mix till smooth. (At this stage you can add a 1/2 cup of sugar-free peanut butter if you want). Add 2 tsps of agave syrup for sweetness, 1 tsp of vanilla, and 2 tbsp coconut oil (also optional). Mix. Empty into bowl and stir into nuts. Add 1 tsp of cinnamon and pinch of sea salt. (Can also add 1/2 cup of shredded coconut at this stage). Mix well and then spread out onto 2 oven trays (lined with baking paper) and bake in oven till crispy and golden. (Mine wasn't getting crispy so broke off edges and then broke the rest up and turned it over to cook other side, still was rather soft at end but put it into glass cannister and into fridge.

There are so many other things you can use in this: walnuts, oat or buckwheat groats (?), other dried fruit etc.

I had a very late breaky and it was a bowl of yoghurt sprinkled with blueberries and broken up granola - heavenly. I have to be careful not to be snacking on it all the time and my 1 yr old could not eat enough of it either.

Had my next lot of blood tests done but they could not find a good vein so stuck me times and only got 3mls - very likely they will call me in to give more blood and that means longer to wait for results. Went home and made a delicious omelette with rocket, grated cheese, tomato rolled into it. Finally made my hommous this arvo as well - super delicious. Recipe below:

1 tin drained chickpeas
125g roasted capsicum (bottled or fresh)
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp tahini
1 tsp sea salt
enough oil to make it the consistency you want (I used the sunflower oil from the roast capsicum).

Put all in food processor till nice and smooth. I spread it on the buckwheat crispbread and was a bit of a waste because they weren't that nice. So would much prefer to have veges to dip into it - carrot, celery, radishes, cukes, etc. Mmmmmm....can't wait!

And was thankful I got a second meal out of the salmon for dinner tonight - a thai curry with coconut milk and salmon and veges. I had mine over bean sprouts, sunflower sprouts and coriander, while everyone else had rice.

Desperately need to buy some more stuff as I've used up a lot of dried fruit and nuts etc. These foods are not cheap (esp organic) so I'm hoping I get the most out of what I use. I feel like I'm not struggling yet with the sweets withdrawal and maybe not eating as much??? However, it's been agony to walk today with severe soreness up my ankles - could be from gym tho? Which reminds me, must be off to bed for my 5.30 wake-up!





Monday, January 18, 2010

Day 2

Well, was doing OK today but soooooooo hot today couldn't bare the idea of cooking so we got Nandos (just chicken and chips - fattening yes, but not grains or sugar) and the aftermath was not pretty - so ill and on the T for quite a bit. Don't know what I reacted with but really makes me want to keep tight reins on what goes in my mouth.

Went to the gym in the morn and had a coffee and chilli scrambled eggs. Mid-morn had an awesome smoothee (banana, fresh blueberries, frozen raspberries, milk, cacao powder, and drizzle of flaxseed oil & agave syrup) that I shared with all the kids. Lunch was another big salad with leftover rissoles chopped up on top. Arvo I had a cut up mango with nat yoghurt and toasted almonds on top. Was still hungry after so had a banana and stole some rice crackers (tsk, tsk).

Went to drs and she OK'd more blood tests to check for glandular (Epstein-Barr) and Ross River Fever and also the Anti-Nuclear Antibodies to check for Auto Immune Deficiency - must investigate that further on internet (h-path recommended that too). Felt OK throughout day altho glands got pretty bad again by mid-arvo and my good feelings were all shot by dinner time (WHY DO KIDS NOT LISTEN TO ME???) and did some lovely yelling. Very tired and cannot believe amazing husband who continues to do all cleaning up after dinner even on first day back at work!

So, didn't make my hummous but glad I had my choc fudge balls to snack on in emergencies (kids love them too so they may not last long). Did some research on grain-free, sugar-free granola and think I've gotten the gist of it will attempt some tomorrow morn. So tonight I must soak some nuts and seeds (almonds, macadamias, sunflower & golden flaxseed) - apparantly soaking nuts makes them more digestible (I'm learning something new everyday.....) so hope it works. Am using raw food recipes but will still cook in oven because I don't have a dehydrator and I want it nice and crunchy.

Other things I've instigated are :

# taking Natren Bifido Factor to up the good bugs in my tummy;
# drinking lemon water in morning & evening (would you believe it makes your pH LESS acidic??)
# drinking only filtered water

Dibs on how long I'll remember to keep this up.....

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Day 1

Oh, my glands are killing me. They've kept increasing in pain this arvo and am dreading going back to the dr for a whinge. The homeopath wanted some things checked anyway so I will ask for her to test me to see if I've had a reoccurence of Ross River Fever (had it about a yr ago) or if its Glandular Fever again - maybe more probable?

However, successful first day of eating well - scrambled egg and salad for breaky, leftover rissoles (organic beef mince, grated onion & carrot, 2 eggs, s & p, curry powder - smells heavenly when cooking) and salad for lunch, & dukkah crusted atlantic salmon with rocket, fetta & roasted sweet potato and beetroot salad for dinner. Wow, seems like a lot of salad - wonder how long it'll take me to get sick of it. However, tomorrow I'm gonna aim at having a fruit smoothee and maybe some soup instead of salad....... Have to keep reading to get more ideas. I think breaky will get hard too if I don't get some more ideas - non-grain granola???? Hmmm....will have to google.

Also made my sweet snack - I call 'em my "choc fudge balls". Basically chucked in a food processor 2 fist-fulls of organic dates, 1/2 cup of walnuts, 2 tbsp of raw cacao powder, 2 tsps of agave syrup - it becomes really sticky and then you roll the mix into balls and cover in coconut. Kept in the fridge they are like truffles - not as good as tim tams but they taste pretty darn good!

Tomorrow I will make my savoury snack - homemade hommous (yum, yum) flavoured with some beetroot or roasted capsicum - tastes so much better than shop-bought. And I will test it out on buckwheat crispbread I found in the health food section of Coles. (No grains - yet!)

Feeling very tired so will have to head for bed soon, gym in the morning with Georgina my PT, also a Fruitarian - now there is someone who looks super healthy! She is amazingly upbeat and always seem happy and content - no mood swings - need me to get some of dat! Night, night.

New Start!

Trying to figure out best way to start of this year. I know I have to change my eating habits but I don't know how drastic to be or what will work for me or what will make it so hard that I'll just give up (and that I don't want to happen!).

#Homeopath says to try Candida diet (no sugar, no yeast - gets rid of the icky fermenting muck in yr gut)

# I love the idea of a raw food diet but just love my meat and dairy too much

#If I have to give up sugar totally - how will I cope with no honey or maple syrup, and what will be my sweet treat? Can anyone survive without a sweet treat?

#How much salad can you eat before going completely troppo?

I don't want this to be a flash in the pan - I want to be committed and really see changes in my life that last for years to come. It's nearly been 2 years since I had my last baby so I know my body is ready to get back to normality (no more childbearing for me!). Heck, I was still breastfeeding this time last year - that blows my mind! Anyway, last year I took the first step of hooking up with a great personal trainer but other than strengthening me and really helping me with getting a core amount of muscle building started - it won't help me lose all this weight.

So, am starting this blog to sort of have something accountable to what I am achieving (or not achieving) and to just plot any sort of improvement and what brings it about.

Ideally, I want to cut out all grains and all sugar. Having said that - I don't know if I can go cold turkey immediately, it may be more gradual but I will try to get the best start possible.

In my busy life with hubby and 4 kids I NEED rewards and that is probably my biggest hurdle. I love a good cuppa coffee so will try to cut my intake to just 2 cups a day (for starters) and 1 cup of tea. I will blog any good recipes I find and will let you know where I fall down or what I am finding easiest. I know the first few days will be a killer so I'm interested in seeing how my symptoms fare over time. My main issues will be the fatigue, the joint pain (in hands and feet) and the mood swings (anger, depression, etc).

Well, I'm off to Mrs Flannerys to stock up on some stuff!