Right lets tackle this thing called FOOD

Last two weeks!

I was excited all week to attend the Barefoot Coconut workshop on Saturday 19th May as I really wanted to start concentrating on my eating habits. As I have said before I am just doing one thing at a time so I can eliminate the overwhelming feeling you get when start a new diet and exercise plan.

If you would like more details on Barefoot Coconut please check out Rebecca's website: http://www.barefootcoconut.co.uk/

Firstly the word “diet” is not a very positive word to use as it immediately makes me feel under pressure and cries out “lack of food” so I am changing my mind set and following in the footsteps of others by saying I am “Eating Clean” that sounds much better and very healthy!

What is “Eating Clean”?

Eating clean basically is eating foods that nature intended us to eat back in Caveman days, no processed foods, just simple natural ingredients.  Some people call it “Paleo eating”.

When you start any eating plan from scratch it is very easy to feel overwhelmed, you are trying to absorb all the information about foods to eat and avoid but also what nutrients or supplements to make sure you are getting enough of. For me knowing the science behind food is a must, I do have a methodical mind which needs lots of information hence I often ask stupid questions for example, what are Legumes? Rebecca from Barefoot Coconut kept mentioning Legumes and I sat there thinking what the hell are they? Have I missed out on something great to eat? Legumes are also known as pulses – kidney beans, baked beans, chick-peas, soy beans etc doh!

If I can understand how the body digest foods it gives me a greater appreciation of how bad processed foods are for us. To me it is as simple as – the more toxins you plough into your body, the harder the body has to work on fighting them rather than efficiently looking after the rest of it! I see eating processed foods rather like having a petrol car and putting diesel in it. I am totally guilty of eating processed foods such as microwave meals and McDonald's so I knew I was in for a shock when I started to withdraw them.

Baby Steps & Bananas

Rather than do everything that I had learnt at once I decided to break it down into "Baby Steps".

My first change was to eliminate wheat and sugar from my eating regime.

This is much harder than it sounds as when you start to read food labels you realise how these ingredients are in nearly EVERYTHING! The main thing I struggle with are ideas of what to eat for breakfast which are wheat and sugar free as I usually have cereal, toast or a cereal bar. Now when I say no sugar I mean no added sugar as I am still eating fruit but not in huge quantities. In the Barefoot Coconut recipe book I found a recipe for banana pancakes which is basically 3 eggs mixed with a banana and cinnamon to taste, fry it in a little coconut oil and there you have it something chunky to eat in the morning which not only tastes nice but is really filling. You may have to practice as I burnt my first two pancakes I ever made but now I have mastered them!

At lunchtimes I am eating salads with meat, fish or eggs and then I add seeds, nuts (especially pine nuts - love them) and pickles to give the dish variety. I am very lucky at work as we have a subsidised restaurant so we have a lot of choice. If I have a cooked lunch it will be chicken with loads of vegetables. Potatoes are not off the menu but I just don't have as many as I used to but if I want one or two I will have them. Afternoon snacks are nuts, carrots, celery or some Greek yogurt with a bit of fruit like blueberries or raspberries and then a little sprinkle of cinnamon. That is a little secret weapon - CINNAMON or any other sweet spice that you like - it can turn a sour dish sweet without adding any sugar!

Dinner tends to be similar to lunch but I am eating a lot of fish at home. I cooked a nice dish the other night, I chopped up red onion, peppers and cherry tomatoes and pan fried them in a little oil, I added the mackerel chopped up and mixed together, the last thing I chucked in the pan was loads of spinach and some pine nuts - it was lovely.

The one thing I have noticed after 12 days of eating clean is that I feel like i have so much more energy and I defiantly do not feel in the slightest bit bloated. It was hard with the sugar withdrawal at first but after a few days it subsides, don't forget I still have fruit so that is the substitute.

The other change I added was to drink more water. WATER WATER WATER. The more you drink the more the body works efficiently, its like putting oil in a car! I go to bed with a pint of water and drink it all when once I have woken up and and are walking around getting dressed. This is great for hydrating the body and brain after hours of sleep.

So far that is all I have changed, I do have some other things planned but I am doing this slowly so that it becomes a permanent part of my life. When you have been on as many diets as I have you eventually come to the conclusion that it is only ever yourself you constantly disappoint and damage. If you are really serious about changing then you have to put the work in, but that work can be done slowly and in steps which are totally achievable.

I believe it is better to make small changes than none at all! Who said everything has to be done at once?

The G.B.U - CROSSFIT 9th, 10th & 12th May 2012 -

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

THE GOOD

I did 3 CrossFit classes last week and survived! Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. I had missed one from the week before so rather than miss out Andy kindly allowed me to catch up with an extra one. It hurt but it was worth it, the first time in ages I glammed up and went to a party Saturday night feeling good, things are beginning to tighten and my energy levels are still high.

Wednesday 9^th May

Out of all the workouts I have done this had to be the shortest of all. 5.58mins to be exact. Its hard to get your head around the fact I only did 6 mins of exercise but again it is so intense that its like doing 20 mins of exercise. Today was only two exercises but they had to be repeated in a sequence of 15-12-9, so we would do 15 deadlifts and 15 over the bar burpees, then 12 of each, then 9 of each so in total 36 deadlifts and 36 burpees. I was following the pace of the guy in front and when it got to my 9's I lost count and think I may have left some out - easy to do when you are knackered!

Thursday 10^th May

Aching from the day before especially my pecs and  triceps I turned up for more punishment (I love it really). This one I found tough although I really feel I am getting so much stronger on the rower which helps! I still have not jumped a box since a week ago but its something I still need to work on so again Andy scaled the box jumps for me to step ups. I am working on my flexibility in order to jump the box so watch this space. Today was 3 exercises but we had to do 5 rounds of them so in total I rowed 2000m 50 push press and 50 box jumps! I also had healthy competition today which made my butt move faster! Good job overall. All the above in 17m 55 seconds!

I love Saturdays at the box, everyone is fresh and in a good mood as its the start of the weekend, we also tend to do a team exercise as well which is an extra motivator. There were two events today, we were spilt into two teams of 4 and each team had to decide which of the 4 listed exercises we each were going to do, I opted for the row whilst the guys in my team mastered the rest. This meant once I had completed my rowing I had a chance to breathe.

Event 2 was not on the board at the time so I thought that was it (wishful thinking) and even joked to a newcomer that its not that bad! lol Event 2's exercises were spilt between us all but I am afraid to say I could not do the push press as the weight was too heavy for me, the guys gave me a helping hand but I opted saved my energy for my 200m run - does not sound much but when you have my boobs running is problem, my moto is slowly but surely! Only the team that came in first had to do the sled - which was not us! Another great session and set me up for the weekend!

THE BAD

My diet is “the bad” I just can’t quite get to grips with it, I am at 60% good, 10% fair and 30% bad. The good is always whilst at work as we have a restaurant with a healthy salad bar which makes it easy as we have choices. I found a great new treat rice cake (see pic below) they are only 57 calories a pop and really are nice but when you know they are low it’s easy to eat 4! Also our catering staff have been making these Granola Pots (see pic below) honey at the bottom and then a mix of low fat natural yogurt and Greek yogurt then granola on the top –apparently they are good for you they are so nice but its feels naughty eating them! I have one for breakfast about 3 times a week or sometimes in the afternoon. Carbs are still taking centre stage in my life, everything is still served with rice, pasta, bread or potatoes, don’t get me wrong I know we need carbs especially when working out but I know 100% I eat too many!

I drank enough Saturday night to fuel a jet, I have never been a glass a night/week drinker I make up for it when I do get the night off and go out, we attended a wonderful wedding reception at a venue where I missed brushing shoulders with Brad and Angelina, Russell Crowe and the Royal brothers – never mind its only 10 mins from my house so a lunch visit is in order!

The influence of alcohol always plays havoc with my willpower as the buffet table seemed to move towards me not the other way round, miniature fish & chips, miniature burgers they all looked so cute I had to eat them! So Sunday morning arrived with an over bloated stomach and a mouth as dry as Gandhi's flip flop, it took until 12pm to feel anything close to normal. One English breakfast, 2 hour snooze and chicken fajitas for dinner later and I am back to myself again but the intoxication of alcohol and processed carbs left their mark.

That’s the good thing about being realistic and human, we all have bad moments but it’s how we overcome them that counts. Monday is here and I am back on drinking 2 litres of water and a healthy lunch, the weekend’s over indulgences are behind me now! Forget them and move on!

Really can’t wait for the nutritional workshop Saturday 19^th May to refresh my knowledge and learn something new!

THE UGLY

Was me on Sunday morning. Simple.

THIS WEEK

This week I plan to drink lots of water, have lots of salads, attend 2 crossfit sessions and try and get some running in on my treadmill at home as my younger cousin wants to do a 5k charity run with me in June so I need to show her I still have it! Although I find running with big boobs is the equivalent of a man running with elephantitus in his groin area, everything seems to wobble these days even my love handles have their own pace!

CROSSFIT - 5th May 2012 Hardest session so far!

It’s been a long week. Apologies for being quiet – If you know me well you will know I am never quiet!

I only managed to get one CrossFit class in last week as Wednesday night I attended a birthday meal at a curry house and ended up not feeling too good the next day. Note to self: must start to sort my diet out. Up until now I did not want to add anymore pressure, historically I have always tried to do everything in one go – start a new diet the day I start a new gym but then what happens? I don’t get to the gym, feel miserable and then eat a huge chelsea bun (they are nice though).  So I am doing things differently this time as I want to break my past habits and succeed! One thing at a time (baby steps – remember). So in preparation for this dietary change I have booked myself in with my CrossFit club who are hosting a visit from Rebecca Hughes who is a wellness coach, apparently she is big on eating simple, clean and lots of – so already I like her for the “lots of” bit! She is also a crossfitter so she understands the nutrition needed to fuel the body correctly when training. The session is booked in for Saturday 19^th May between 11-2 so I will keep you all posted! In the meantime she runs this website if you would like a peek www.barefootcoconut.co.uk. I am excited about this session!

Saturday 5^th May

Well……..I can honestly say that this session was the hardest by far!

I arrived in good spirits to see approx 12 of us (CrossFitters to outsiders -smug moment J) and a couple of new faces to me but they had been with the Camberley box for a while. The WOD (workout of the day) was set and we were split into two teams of 6. The WOD was row 10,000m and then complete as many reps as possible on the following: air squats, the plank, deadlifts, burpees and dips. Don't forget this was all to come after the warm up (see writing in red on picture). When I originally saw 10,000m I thought Jesus there is no way I could row that on my own especially if he wanted to close that night - can you imagine me in the dark rowing through the night until Andy turned up the next morning?

 

I am so glad we don't have captains that have to pick teams, do you remember those days at school where you were the last one to be picked? oh you don't, must have just been me then! Saying that if they were picking for the Shotput trials I was number 1 all the way! I used to think that if I wanted a body like a certain person at school I should follow the same sport they do for example the gymnasts were always quite short but had great muscly legs and amazingly toned stomachs, the long jumpers and runners had the long legs and the shot putters looked just like me! No, not really I was not too bad at school, although at the time I thought I was but didn't we all?

So we proceed to the workout which would end once we had rowed 10,000m as a team (phew) little did I know at that point how long that would take. In turn we had to row 500m each at a time but someone had to be rowing the whole duration of the workout (so no rowing breaks). Usually our workouts vary between 16-20 mins but not this one, as I was struggling with moving from exercise to exercise I looked up at the clock to see 21:05 and then I swear I heard a voice shout "keep it up you are half way there" half way there? OMG I was knackered already and was not sure I had much left in the tank. By 30 mins the fruit and fibre I had for breakfast was beginning to work its way back up from the stomach. To be honest by 39 mins I had to get water I really felt dizzy (by the way you can get water at anytime I just chose to keep going). The last few minutes saw a race between teams and the good news was that we WON!! woo hoo I was on a winning team again (I could get used to this) in total it was a 45 min WOD which is going to sound like nothing to some of you who do an hour of aerobics on a regular basis but its not the same. If I had to compare the energy required to complete a session of CrossFit it would be like cramming your 60 aerobic workout into 10 mins.

I felt proud that I had held on until the end but I promise you I felt shattered, when I pulled into my drive after the workout I actually wondered if I had the energy to get out of the car. After approx 30 mins of the workout I experienced something not very nice, I started seeing blotches in my vision which then lead to what I can only describe as kaleidoscope patterns which very quickly expanded taking up the whole of my sight. I have had this once before so I knew not to panic but instead I grabbed my bottle of water, laid down on the sofa with a towel over my head for darkness and sipped water until it stopped. 45mins later I can see normally again but I had a hell of a migraine. To cut a long story short I had basically done 3 things wrong that morning, firstly my breakfast was not enough to provide the correct energy needed for that sort of workout, secondly I had not drunk enough water and lastly I ignored my body when it did tell me to slow down during the workout. My blood pressure had shot up and my hydration levels had gone down a lesson I do not wish to repeat.

It really taught me the importance of drinking plenty of water and also fuelling the body with the right foods before a workout - that's one of the reasons I am excited about the nutrition workshop. As they say, Knowledge is Power!

So although I only made one session, that session felt like a weeks worth anyway! I ached for 3 days after and had plank wounds on my forearms/elbows but I still loved every minute of it and think it is 100% worth the effort.

I can proudly say my black trousers are starting to get looser and I will be doing my stats soon to measure the difference!

If there is anyone out there brave enough to do a taster session of CrossFit then give me a shout! I promise it is addictive! J

ROLE MODELS & OUR FUTURE

Something that has only really occurred to me recently is the effect that all this weight loss and image talk has had on the young adults and children of the world.

 

I think we are all guilty of saying "I look fat in this" in front of children not giving it a second thought that they may absorb and copy our behaviour.

Just recently my 12 year old cousin commented on a number of occasions that she was "fat", not only is she far from fat but she is the perfect size for her age, height and of course she is very beautiful. The fact she thinks she is fat disturbed me and got me really thinking about how much some of us do not realise the impact we have on the young.

I am 100% certain that my younger cousin has repeatedly heard me rabbit on about my weight on at least 150 occasions, she is also influenced by magazines, TV and the girls at her school. Most girls her age are watching "The Only Way is Essex" which is almost like a UK version of "Jersey Shore" whereby the girls are very image conscious and obsessed with their body shapes and sizes. I hold my hands up and confess I was very guilty of these conversations and have realised that this 'innocent' talk is actually damaging.

Children and young adults do not fully understand "airbrushing", they are not all fully aware that in real life not all these models and celebrities look like they do in photoshoots, young adults are comparing themselves to something that does not even exist!

Do you think if we never mentioned weight loss or weight related issues in front of the young but instead talked about the importance of healthy eating to benefit the inside and outside of our bodies it would make a difference to how they feel about themselves?

We protect our children from so many things when they are young like swearing, horror films and violence but why don't we do more to protect them from destroying themselves emotionally? Why do we not invest more time in our children's mental and emotional well-being so they have a wonderful well-balanced self confidence?

What if we encouraged our children to see the best parts of people rather than someones imperfections, would this make them see a person for their personality rather than because they have a funny lip or limp?

 

The competition to look amazing is simply overwhelming and it starts so young, you must have all seen these TV programmes with girls as young as 5 wearing a full face of make-up, heels, bras and short skirts - WHY? Because they have seen women on TV wearing them in music videos etc.

Every single one of us is a role model and it really angers me to see people give no consideration those young around them. Those who smoke in the presence of a child, give their children fried chicken and chips every night because they cant be bothered to cook something healthy and different, even a tuna pasta dish with frozen peas is better and cheaper - so money is no excuse! Those who let their 6 year old watch Babe Station, cover their face in make-up to go to school or let them watch explicit music videos with women wearing less than I floss my teeth with!

Just so you know, I am no angel or prude, I grew up on a council estate, am the daughter of an alcoholic, had a colourful past with men & relationships and are the victim of a weight obsessed society but that is exactly what makes me feel so strongly about it because it just simply does not have to be that way!

Where does this leave us in the future?

The obesity rate in children is growing rapidly, bulling in schools is getting worse and the age children are initiating sex or sexual activities is getting younger, I am totally convinced that there is a link with these issues, low self esteem and a lack of self respect which has been inherited by the behaviour of the adult world.

I truly believe it would take years to undo the damage that our society has done to itself but its not irreversible, as a mother I take full responsibility of making a huge effort to make sure my son grows up to have:

an understanding of healthy eating

an appreciation of imperfections (as NOBODY is PERFECT)

the ability to look past the exterior

the art of "everything in moderation"

and most importantly self respect

Now I may fail completely, fall flat on my face and my son ends up 19 stone at aged 12, smoking cigars and jumping 13 year old girls, but I will never give up trying to guide him the right way than do nothing at all?

In my opinion it is NEVER too late to try and change any behaviours, you could be aged 5, 8, 12, 16, 30, 45, 65 or 90, we all have the choice, opportunity and power to start fresh every single day. If we complimented our children when they have achieved something or just when they simply look "nice", you would not believe the amount of parents who do not EVER compliment their children.

If you don't know how, ASK. Don't you think asking a health visitor advice on children's meals is better than seeing your 10 year old son obese at 15 stone and struggling to walk up a step? Does it not take less energy to read a book about self confidence than find out that your 14 daughter is having sex with boys who tell her she is beautiful so they can sleep with her? I know this sounds a little far fetched but actually it is not! It is happening all over the world every day. Only yesterday in the news was a story about the death of a 19 year old girl dying from Anorexia which was the direct result of the impact magazines had on her: 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2137423/Bethaney-Wallace-Anorexic-cover-girl-model-19-dies-sleep-weight-drops-6-stone.html

We can do something about it, we can make changes in our families that will filter through the generations to make a more civilised and balanced society.

If you have a child or any interactions with children or young adults just remember you have the power to change the way they see the world and themselves.

Every single one of us is a role model and the way we behave and speak is being watched, analysed and copied by the young of this world - lets start to make this mimicking something to be proud of!