pain is temporary - losing is forever

Day 7: Who knows about your weight loss journey? What do they think about it?

I’ve been dieting all my life, and my family and friends have heard me talk about diets and seen me go on diets so many times I think they grew immune to the whole thing. This time I never made a big thing about it, and I didn’t even “go on a diet”. I started in January but cutting down on my portions by eating from a small fruit bowl with a dessert spoon. Slowly this led to eating an apple a day to buying more fruit and veg, to replacing every bad choice in the kitchen with a healthier one. It’s been a slow process that now, six months later, has taken me to a place where I eat primarily raw vegan food.

My immediate family knows, of course, as we live together. It would be hard for me to go all green without them noticing. They have all been fantastic and extremely supportive. All of them, but one, have also been drawn in and started to eat differently, exercise more and detoxing their lives too. Just one family member (with the physique of a stick insect) decided to not get on the bandwagon as he’s too scared of losing even a gram of weight. But having said that, he has increased his intake of fresh pressed juice, replaced all white products with brown ones (sugar, pasta, rice, bread etc), increased his intake of fruit and veg and replaced butter and cooking oils with virgin coconut oil and virgin olive oil. I’m down just over 40lbs, but the rest of my family have shed the same amount between them, so I must say I’m pretty proud and impressed with all of us!

I haven’t been working for a long time and I’ve not really been out and about at all this year, so very few of my friends or extended family members know or have seen me. When I’m going on holiday will be the first time I see the extended family in a very long time, so it will be interesting to see their reactions. Not to mention the looks on their faces when they come over for dinner and get to eat raw food… ;o)

I’m trying to install a theme on my secondary blog, but instead it installs here (where it doesn’t fit!) and now I can’t seem to find my theme again. Why does it always have to be complicated when you want to do something really quick?! =(

Day 6: Do you have any disordered eating habits? How do you overcome/cope with them?

My most disordered eating habit is my lifelong aversion to eating breakfast. I’ve never liked the idea of starting the day eating and I still don’t. My detox brought about a new habit that has changed that, though. My green smoothie/juice. Every morning I start my day with a bottle (0.5 - 1l depending on my mood) with a green juice or a green smoothie. This is basically a drink that can be thick as a smoothie or more liquid like a juice. I make it by blitzing:

•  spinach and/or kale, together with
• a lime or a lemon,
• some rejuvelac,
• some coconut water,
• whatever fruit or berries I’m in the mood for,
• a banana if I’m making a smoothie,
• a teaspoon of manuka honey,
• a pinch of ginger,
• a pinch of cinnamon,
• two tablespoons of my green meal powder, and
• fresh pressed juice to taste.

If I want a juice, I run this through a nut mylk bag to remove the pulp. If I want a smoothie, I might chuck in a few ice cubes or frozen bits of fruit. (I slice up fruit when I’m worried it’s gonna go off and stick in in the freezer so that I always have a stash of frozen fruit and berries at home.) This is a perfect start to the day. It gives me everything I need and I don’t have to sit and chew anything. Keeps me satisfied until lunchtime, and often longer. Best thing I’ve ever done.

(NB! When I first tried this green shake two months ago I thought it was pretty vile. Kary Calabrese said this is often the case, but the more your body needs it the more you might dislike it. Didn’t particularly encourage me, but I bit the bullet and kept drinking a glass each day. Within two weeks I found I was craving it. I really do wake up wanting my green juice the way I used to want my coffee. Strange things happen when you start to detox, that’s for sure!)