Attempting a Healthier, Cleaner Lifestyle free from Refined Sugars :)

[misswilma14]

Woooo, 6 days into this and I'm feeling great. It just goes to show what nutrition, water and a little bit of exercise does for you! I have been having particularly tough days as well (studying for finals + work is a nightmare) so it would have been the total opposite if I hadn't got my act together - headaches, bloatedness, tired, lethargic, grumpy. Instead I'm only a little grumpy

B - Biolive yogurt and strawberries
S - Apple
L - Quinoa salad with beetroot, lettuce, tomatoes, pepper, pomegranate seeds, avocado, seed mix
S - Eat Natural almond and apricot bar (snack size), prunes, half a bar of dark chocolate, one energy bite
D - Covent Garden Vegetable and Soupergrain soup

The soup could have been homemade but I do think it's the next best thing. It does have a little added sugar (to the stock) and a bit too much salt for my liking but all in all, a pretty good choice when your low on time! Which I will be the next few weeks. So I think as long as I prep my lunch mains (e.g. quinoa, chicken or sweet potato) and have a couple of frozen homemade meals in the freezer, something like that soup will be fine once or twice a week.

I'm watching a documentary at the minute called Forks Over Knives - has anyone seen it? It's about how in America the biggest cause of cancer, heart disease etc they think is all down to bad nutrition. Now I don't believe all those things are just caused by nutrition, but I am starting to see what a massive factor diet can be. I learnt that during the war, Germany took control of Belgium, and confiscated all their live cattle farms to feed the German soldiers. Now stats show that before the takeover, cancer was at an average level. When the takeover happened, cancer dropped so much that it was kind of rare! Then after the war, once everything was getting back to normal (food wise especially), the rates of cancer started creeping right back up until they were 'average' again. Can that be a coincidence? Theres lots of compelling evidence on the documentary - if anyone's interested it's online to watch for free. It's main point is that dairy and animal based products (meat mainly) are bad for us. Now since starting to live a non/low processed lifestyle, I've started to eat a lot less meat (good because it's expensive!), so can only see that as a good thing. I'm not going to cut it out - I think it's good for protein etc, but I think it can't help eating less of it. I might start trying to cut down dairy as well - just a little less cheese and yogurt. It's all a trial-and-error I suppose!

 

[misswilma14]

Didn't get to post yesterday. Didn't have the best day but it is fine because I lost 3lbs! Weighed myself a day early as didn't think I would get the chance to this morning. Really happy with that, as I can tell I have lost weight. Now at 10st 7lbs and so would just like to get this last 7lbs off at some point

But yeh yesterday wasn't the best. Had a good start - eggs and kale for breakfast, big salad for lunch, snacks of a banana, some energy bites. But I was just starving all day! So ended up having two 'All Natural' (but not actually all natural) cereal bars which can't be good. Then someone brought flapjacks and cookies into work! I'm just no good at saying no to free food. Ended up having 3 (!!!!!) big flapjacks plus a big cookie then a malteasers bunny later on. Then we had cupcakes in at home (through no fault of my own) so ended up having one of them before bed. I actually don't regret any of them apart from the cookie and bunny, and enjoyed them. But got firmly back on the wagon today, so all is good. Today's menu:
B - Omelette (1 egg 2 whites) with peppers, feta and chilli, 2 energy bites
S - Orange, Urban fruit dried banana (no added anything, just baked banana and delicious!)
L - big salad with lettuce, quinoa, chicken, raisins, pomegranate seeds
S - banana, porridge bar, half a bar of dark chocolate, 2 energy bites, raisins

Again, because I went to the gym in the evening I didn't really have anything proper for dinner, just snacks throughout the day. I'm not sure what's best - am I overeating on the snacks? Ideally I would eat a small meal around 4ish but am always out and about around then so snacks are a little more convenient for me. Just need to get a bit more vegetables in and I'll be good to go. Bring on another week of good decisions.

Hope everyone had a lovely day x

 

[misswilma14]

Another semi-successful day.

B - Porridge with almond milk and berries
S/L - Banana, almonds & raisens, 2 ryvita with half an avocado, a nakd bar, 4 energy bites, one cupcake
D - Spinach and sweet potato curry with cauliflower rice

So my little wobble today was the cupcake. But I don't regret it - actually, I was quite proud of myself as I only had one, when there was the possibility to have more. But more importantly, I didn't let it ruin my day. I made a conscious decision to have it and enjoy it, then not to binge for the rest of the day. I have a bit of an issue with an all-or-nothing mentality, so when I do something less-than-perfect I think I've totally ruined it. Well, I don't - I know I've not really ruined it, but think I use it more as an excuse to let myself eat everything in sight. But today I didn't - I had the urge to, but challenged it and won. A small, pragmatic victory, but a victory nonetheless.

I also just realised that my day was pretty much vegan, apart from the cupcake. I'm going to try and cut out most dairy products over the next week and see if I feel any better for it! I know I should also try and give up meat as well, but not quite ready for that yet lol.

I've been thinking about my calorie goals today, and although I vowed not to calorie count (I think we should listen to our bodies and by eating a healthy, whole-foods based diet we should get to our natural weight with relative ease) but I literally have no idea of the amount of calories I am consuming daily. Yes I want to just eat nutritiously, but also do want to loose a couple of lbs. I'm coming in at a calorie amount of around 1400-1700 per day. So I'm thinking I may try and reduce my snacks a little. I eat quite a lot in the mornings, so maybe try and just have one snack in between meals? All trial and error I suppose

 

[elsbels]

Yay! Well done on the weight loss in your post yesterday and well done on having just the one cupcake. Two positives to drive you on further! I couldn't give up meat for three reasons - I love it too much, I'm a fussy eater so if I didn't eat meat I don't know what else I would eat, and lastly I'm a farmer's daughter so I don't think it would go down well (actually I know it wouldn't, after my sister pretended to be a veggie to see what my dad would say and he was not impressed!).

Here's to another successful day tomorrow!