On A Go Slow

So last night I felt crappie cos of that cake and then I started with an allergy ... Couldn't stop sneezing , my nose was so itchy and my eyes sore. I had to take two antihistamines to calm it. So this morning when I woke up .... I didn't feel with it at all... Totally drugged up. So been on quite a go slow most the day. 

 This morning our gardener came to help me with the garden. Then this afternoon, I popped to Starbucks to do some studying. We have one in the next village to us.... which is great. I just had a couple of decaf Americanos ....

Been drinking lots of water... hopefully I will feel more with it tomorrow.

A few photos from today. I am loving the Beautifulmess iPhone app :)

Mint growing in our garden - great for fresh mint tea

made this at lunchtime

decaf Americano at Starbucks

Whole 30 Recap

So... I did it.... :) It's a good job I was more focused at sticking to the Whole 30 than I was blogging about it hahahahaha...

I am feeling great... I think the first few days were tough... but once the cravings had subsided, it felt fabulous.

 I have enjoyed eating like this.... so much so that I have decided to carry on.  If we eat out, I may order some lentils, chickpeas and rice but I intend to stick to the Whole 30 way of eating at home. There is no reason not to really.  When something makes you feel so good....why change it? I haven't had this much energy and felt in such a good place in a long time.  I often think, I have actually never felt like this before. It just goes to show exactly how important it is what we put in our body. 

I feel I have learnt a great deal about food and nutrition during this journey.  Reading lots of food labels is definitely educational.  Also I want to mention Dallas & Melissa Hartwig's book here It Starts With Food

I learnt so much from this book and it was very motivating too. An essential read when doing The Whole 30.

You can also sign up HERE for daily emails to help you during the 30 days.  There is also lots of helpful information on the site too

Since the age of 14 I have had such an unhealthy relationship with food - I shall write about this another time... but for the first time ever, I feel this has changed. 

My total weightloss during the 30 days is 12 pounds which is great :) I want to lose another 7 pounds before we go to Kefalonia at the end of August. 

Whole 30 Days 13 & 14

Had a busy day on Saturday (day 13) went off up to Chesterfield to a Jivamukti Yoga workshop.  It was fantastic.  A strong and sweaty practice in the morning and then an afternoon studying The Siddhis (Yogic Supernatural Powers) in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.

All packed to go

 I made a quick breakfast - Indian Style Scrambled Eggs.  They don't look appetizing but they were delicious.

I love using the spices in my masala dabba

to make the scrambled eggs, I melted some ghee in a pan, added cumin seeds and black mustard seeds until they popped. I then added garam masala and tumeric, then the onions, then the rest of the veg - mushrooms and peppers. Cooked them for a while and then added the egg and stirred til they scrambled.  Was a quick but tasty breakfast.

I took a packed lunch with me.  I made a salad, a fruit salad and took some hazelnuts too.  When I got home I made mixed vegetable subji and served it with tuna.  

I was only saying to Gina on the course that I never feel hungry on this diet and all my cravings had gone.... but Oh my.... last night... I felt starving.... I so easily could have binged on chocolate etc... I ate some fruit but 30 mins later I was starving again.  I think the Yoga triggered some deep emotions which I couldn't cope with and wanted to turn to food.  I kept telling myself to meditate on my throat chakra. As Patanjali says:

3.31 Contemplation upon the throat chakra eradicates hunger and thirst

I still felt hungry when I went to bed.  I was determined I was NOT going to break my Whole 30.  Fell asleep ok but woke up at 5am with a pounding headache.  It was so bad I had to take some tablets.  I slept a few more hours and when I woke up it had gone.

I had a simple and quick breakfast this morning - egg with mushroom and advocado

Lala and I then spent some time cleaning the pond. After which I started to do some work for my course.  For lunch I made some Ayurvedic Veg with some salmon.  

I used coconut oil instead of ghee and I think I prefer it.  My dosha is Pitta/Kapha - more Pitta than Kappha and coconut oil is very cooling for Pitta. 

I studied til 4pm and suddenly felt very tired, went for a lay down and fell asleep....

Today I am not feeling hungry.... not hungry enough to eat any dinner

Looking forward to day 15... half way through wooooohoooo.

I am also on countdown to our summer vacation

Whole 30 Days 10, 11 & 12

Can't believe today is day 12 - only a few more days and I will be half way through.

I have already started to think which foods I will reintroduce after the 30 days.  I am definitely NOT reintroducing wheat and dairy.  I think both of those are big culprits for many things - mood swings, bloating, cravings, over eating.

Being a Yogini, I am very much drawn towards Yoga's sister science - Ayurveda. Last night I cooked an Ayurvedic Mixed Vegetable Subji. Per Ayurveda this has tridoshic energetics. It balances Agni and is laxative . A good food for bones and joints ;) It was delicious too

I finished the left overs of it (not very Ayurvedic as the rule is fresh food only) on my salad this lunch time ... Yummie. I got the recipe from this excellent book.

So to be able to eat in an Ayurvedic way, I am going to have to reintroduce rice and lentils and beans... I am going to see how I feel about this nearer the time and if I do, I will monitor the effects of this on my body. 

So I have been fairly crap... Or rather very lazy at taking photos of my food over the past few days but these are some of my meals which I did photograph.

We went out to eat this evening which was nice.  The only place I could think of which would have something on the menu I could eat was Roosters at Morley Hayes .

 I ordered the seafood salad.  The only things on the plate I couldn't eat was the bread with salmon and dill mousse and the beetroot ( as it was pickled in malt vinegar and that comtains gluten) I also asked for no Marie Rose sauce. 

My plate at the end :)

I am on day 4 of Deva Premal's and Miten's Mantra Meditation.  It is never too late to sign up. You can do so Here

It's so beautiful and as Miten says - we always remember to fees the body but very often forget to feed the soul and nourish our inner space. Mantra is soul food

The mantras so far :

Day 1 OM

Day 2 OM Shanti OM

Day 3 OM Gan Ganapataye Namah

day 4 Aham Prema

Still feeling great and looking forward to the weekend :) 

Whole 30 days 5, 6 & 7

Yay today is day 8.... 
Not had chance to blog... Been a very busy weekend.  I am training to become a Yoga Teacher.  It was the course all this weekend. I only have 3 more weekends left to til the end of my course .... It's kind of scary .... I need to start to think about setting my classes up etc.... It's exciting but frightening at the same time. 

Food wise all three days have gone well. Day 5 looked like this 

Day 6 looked like this - I didn't take photo of my evening meal as it was just left over salmon and sweet potato fries.  I bought some coconut on the way home from training.  I suddenly started to feel stressed and so knew I could easily eat badly... The coconut snack put a stop to this :)

Day 7 looked like this

Yep just the one photo... Didn't take one of my lunch... It was just salad, some nuts and fruit.  But none of this for me this weekend.

  I haven't eaten anything for dinner - just not hungry.  I do find I am not finding the need to eat as much. I guess it is cos when i do eat, I am eating nutrient rich food. 

My day at Yoga Teacher Training was really tough.... Physically, mentally and emotionally. I got really emotional during relaxation. The tears seem to come up out of nowhere. I was fine and then the next minute the tears were rolling down my face.  When we were brought up to sitting, that was it.... I seem to totally let go and cried and cried. It's good to let go and cry though.... I actually felt much much better for doing so. It happened in such a loving and caring environment. 
We have done a lot of physical practice this weekend. 

My aim this over the next 7 days is to try different things .... I feel my meals seem to be a bit all same-ie ... I need new ideas.... I am gonna do some research

Whole 30 Day One

So today is Day One of The Whole 30. I feel so excited about this. Hopefully I will still feel as positive by day 30. 

I loved the book "It Starts With Food" by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig and it all made perfect sense and has motivated me to make all the changes.

I desperately need to reset my body and get rid of many unhealthy eating habits.

So over the next 30 days the guidelines as per the book are as follows:

YES : Eat food that make you more healthy - meat*, seafood and eggs, lots of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of healthy fats.

NO: Do not consume any added sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes or dairy.

NO: Do not attempt to recreate junk food or desserts by using "approved" ingredients.

NO: Do not step on the scale for the entirety of your program. 

So Day One has gone well. 

My eats have been as follows :

Breakfast: 2 eggs (omletted) , roasted mushrooms, tomatoes and green peppers

Lunch: tuna, salad leaves, cucumber, green peppers, hazelnuts, apple, raw red cabbage and olive oil & balsamic dressing 

Dinner: salmon, sweet potato and coconut mash, avocado, spinach & strawberries

Exercise : Yoga & Walking

How do I feel : to say I got up at 4.20am, I am feeling great. Still trying to get my body clock right after our vacation in the USA. When I got back from walking, I felt hungry.... But it turned out it was actually water I needed and after a glass the hungry feeling went. 

If you stumble across my blog and you are blogging The Whole 30 program too, leave me a comment with the link to you blog.

Love

Kiki xoxo

* I won't be eating meat