Feeling Raw on the Raw Diet - Day 4

Oh how I look at the optimism encapsulated in Friday's post and would like some of it back! 

First piece of advice - If you plan on going raw for a week, plan this in advance along with some form of of a meal plan. 

I did not do this, and am suffering for it now. I am sleeping amazingly well, and there are no tummy complaints, but I am pretty sure I have been over doing it on the healthy fats. I have been consuming buckets of humous, and been very indulgent with the quantity of nuts I am allowing myself to eat. I have been trying to keep my sugars down so sticking to 70-80% veg, 20-30% fruit.

My general daily meal plan is 

Breakfast -

Hot water & lemon

Pint of Water with probiotic

Green smoothie consisting of 1 cup of water, 1/2 apple, 1/2 pear, 1/2 lettuce bulb, 2 sticks of celery, 1 cup spinach, 1/2 banana, juice of 1/2 lemon

Mid morning snack - Fresh juice (ie beetroot, carrot, celery and orange) - yes, it wasn't very pleasant!

Lunch -

Nori wraps containing humous, red peppers, cucumber & olives.

Or

Green Salad with alfalfa sprouts, avocado, tomatoes and onions

Mid afternoon snack -

Raw cashews! 

Dinner 

Wahey! Salad again and some cheeky nuts to add some variety. And even more humous

Now I know from some brief research online that there are all sorts of interesting dishes you can put together in very little time, but I am just too busy at the moment to start experimenting with these. I also know from the small amount of nutrition knowledge I have that I am going over kill on the healthy fats, but I have to say I feel deprived of protein if not. I'm sure there's a way to balance this, but I might have to discover this at a later date. 

On a positive note, Nori wraps really are all they are cracked up to be. Even my steak mad partner was incredibly happy to share them with me, and we had a fun time in the kitchen assembling them. Olives were also my savior this weekend, a pleasant treat to enjoy while watching the other half quaffing his Rioja.

Now I've got to go and look temptation in the face and ice a batch of cookies, while constantly reminding myself of the pain they put me through last week to avoid one sneaking it's way into my hand and then invading my mouth. Naughty cookie!

I hope you're all having a good week.

Let's hear it for seaweed and olives for making my weekend bearable - I love you guys!

Oh, and I forgot to mention chia seeds, I love you guys too xxx

Going Roar for a week

Good morning!

Well, it is almost exactly a week until I have my first wedding dress fitting, so I have decided it would be a good time to do a week cleanse. My body is physically craving a cleanse after I decided two days ago it would be a good idea to reward myself with a few cookies before going entirely gluten free. This was not a good idea.

For the last few months I have gradually been trying to make my diet cleaner, eating more whole foods. Green smoothies for breakfast, salad or pulses for lunch and some form of cooked protein and salad to finish the day. I have had my occasional off day where I enjoy whatever I like when we go out for tapas in Spain with friends. Without consciously intending to do so, I had basically not consumed anything containing flour for just over two weeks. Possibly even longer. Not until *those* cookies. Well, this was pay back time. I was in a lot of discomfort and my stomach still feels a tickling itching sensation two days on. I'm not going to be graphic but it wasn't pretty.

On the plus side, the road I was umming and arring as to whether I really wanted to take it has presented itself very clearly as my only option. My body has said enough is enough, and although disappointed as I like a lot of meals which contain wheat - I am also excited to bring out my creative side and discover some interesting dishes. I am also hoping that if this was a contributing factor to the endo pain I have been feeling in the past, without even knowing it, I am hoping this will reap rewards that will help me not to yearn for pizza!

In the meantime, as I feel so sluggish and terrible after my 'cookie ordeal' I have decided it would be a great time to take up the challenge of going raw for 7 days. The raw diet promises to reduce bloat, brighten the mind, and hopefully help me drop a couple of pounds. Sounds good to me! It's also the perfect time of year with so many delicious vegetables and fruit in season.

Over the next seven days I will share with you what I am eating, how I am feeling, and best of all, the results. I know I look to other bloggers for healthy living inspiration and meal inspiration, so I hope this will help some people.

Well, this is where I'm at folks, ready to roar!

Have a great weekend all, I will be updating you soon with how I fare!

Reflections

As I put away my winter wardrobe and pull out my summer clothes, I found myself reflecting on my life. Some clothes were looser on me, while others still proved to fit perfectly, this time last year friendships that were 'looser' are now so close, they're the perfect fit. Other friendships proved to be as fickle as last years fashion. Fortunately I am not particularly fashion savvy so I didn't lose too much. I put away the scarf my Mother knitted me while she was battling breast cancer bringing back memories of how weak she looked then, and relieved to know that with the time that has passed she is now 'all clear' and although not being in 100% fitness, I have my feisty Mum back and I look forward to her feeling even better. I find the clothes I was wearing when Alex proposed to me, while this time last year I had no idea what was coming. I wonder where my life will be at when these clothes make their return journey to the box, and I will be a married woman. What new adventure will have come to my door? All I know is through all the ups and downs of the two seasons, I have never been so grateful for all of the friendship, love and support I have in my life. I am so excited to not only be blessed by my own family, but to soon be part of another family also. Love is the only constant in our lives, bye bye winter, hello summer

Why this blog?

Well, if you couldn't tell from the title - and I probably haven't made it incredibly clear, this blog is all about my journey with Endometriosis. Now I know from other blogs that I don't have it as severely as some, but it still effects me on a regular basis - to the extent that I felt it would be nice to have this blog as almost an online journal.

My approach to my condition is not standard. I am trying my best to avoid surgeries, and where possible, medication. I used to rattle with the amount of pain killers I took and very soon realised that something had to change. I am not at all qualified to dispense advice, and my journey is purely personal. What may suit me could well not suit another. I do not share my ideas because I believe them to be superior to those of others. They are just what suit me in the now.

I have spoken to 2 Doctors on the National Health Service, visited 3 different Private Specialist Gynecologists, and even consulted an alternative Therapist in fertility. They were all of the same opinion that it would not be sensible to perform a surgery until I had attempted to try for a family naturally, and this is not a stage that I and my partner are at right now. In the meantime I started looking into alternative ways to manage the pain I feel on a monthly basis, from the moment I ovulate, finally crescendoing at 'that time of the month'.

By pure coincidence a nice local lady was starting out her own business as a Reflexologist. Now I don't want this post to become an enormous essay, so to keep it short I will say that I am now visiting this lovely lady twice a month as I noticed a dramatic improvement in my symptoms almost right away. I don't know enough about reflexology to explain why or how it works, I know for certain there is no placebo effect in play, it just works. It doesn't eliminate the pain entirely, but after my first session I didn't even look at the drug cupboard that month. I will probably elaborate on this in a separate post another day.

I also started researching 'the endo diet' and read 'Skinny Bitch', 'Dr Joshi's 21 Day Detox' as well as Kim Snyders 'The Beauty Detox Solution' all on the recommendation of others. Now anyone who knows me well will know my partner and I are the biggest foodies, so any food elimination decisions were not taken lightly, and admittedly, were not adhered to stringently for a good while. In fact, my desire to still eat interesting dishes while adhering to a diet that looks after me at the same time is a major driving force behind the creation of this blog. I thought, if I find delicious meals which suit the endo diet, it's only nice to share this knowledge! 

I am a Baker by profession, and am quite devastated that as a result of having cut out gluten for the last three weeks - when I sneakily attempted to try one of my signature cookies this afternoon I ended up very sick for the rest of the afternoon. I've started off on this road, and it looks like I am going to have to follow it. I will be attempting to eat less sugar, but I do have a big sweet tooth and I love baking so I imagine there will be more than a few sweet dishes shared on this blog.

This is a rather massive introduction, but I guess it gives you a good idea of where I am at. If you read this and would like to share your endo experience with me, I would be interested to hear it, but predominantly, I would love to know any gluten free dairy free vegetarian dishes you know that will rock my world!

Until next time. x