I am what I eat - Week 6

I realise this post is a wee bit late, but it's like that for a reason I promise... I delayed writing about week six because I went back to see my Naturopath, Anya Nidd, on Friday to check in and see how things were going.
And things are going great! It's cool to see the changes slowly happening over the course of a few weeks, but it's particularly satisfying to go back to Anya and tell her all about the last six weeks, including the slip ups and the hard bits, and know that I'm doing things right and also that there is more I can do.
I felt like a different person on that second visit, like someone who had complete control of their health and skin. No longer do I moan about the state of my skin because, even though the majority of the time now it looks amazing, if it does look bad I know it's my own fault for indulging in too much sugar and fatty processed food. I also feel so much stronger in both mind and body. Although there have been times when I have had a taste of chocolate and it's taken me a couple of days of indulging (and nasty red pimples) to break the habit again, I've discovered an amazing willpower I never knew I had. I have stubbornly stuck to this new regime and the slips ups are becoming less and less because I'm now running on facts, not theories.
Before, in regards to my skin, I was bombarded by everyone else's theories on why I kept having breakouts in my twenties. Too much chocolate, too much stress, not enough sleep, not enough water, using the wrong products. But as much as I tried to turn those things around, nothing gave me results because I never actually knew the root cause of it.
Now I know I was extremely deficient in zinc, and dairy products, sugar and processed food were causing my breakouts. So now we never buy milk, barely eat cheese, my snacks consist of fruit, rice crackers and hummus, my meals are full of good whole foods and I take a zinc supplement.
Sounds easy, but it's been a commitment and a half requiring a lot of willpower and patience, which has paid off. I now believe that going off meat was my body's way of telling me it was time to do something drastic about my skin, energy levels, immune system and general health. So thanks body. xo

I am what I eat - Week 5

Well, it's just two days until my engagement party and, although I'm not doing this whole "I am what I eat" thing just for the sake of looking and feeling good at the party, it is really good to have something to shoot for.
It's like any kind of diet, or lifestyle change as I like to call it. You know what certain things will do to your body, but sometimes you just can't resist. Even with my skin the way it is, so troublesome and fussy and sensitive, and even though it makes me feel down when it's not looking so good, sometimes you fall off the wagon. Now, I haven't fallen off the wagon this week, but having something to look forward to, something to look good for is such a good way to not fall off the wagon.
So although I am kicking myself a little bit for letting greasy, sugary food lead me astray in week 3 because it gave me a breakout and set me back a week, it was also a good test, because now I know exactly what I shouldn't eat to avoid breakouts. I've also realised that, yes, stress does cause breakouts, but, as a lot of people do, I don't eat very well when I'm stressed, so maybe the stress is just a tiny piece of the problem. So this week has been very, very busy, but the breakouts have stayed away because I've remained level headed and chosen to ignore things I would normally be stressed about and decided to deal with them when life quietens down in the next couple of weeks, while still eating good, simple food.
So now I have to ask myself: What do I have to shoot for after the party?
So many things!
First of all, my fabulously talented photographer friend Michelle has asked me to collaborate with her in a project she's doing - photographing women without makeup on. It scares the bejesus out of me, being photographed without makeup, but I can imagine it being an enlightening experience and I'm so looking forward to it!
Then there's my birthday in the middle of of the year. Every year I've said to myself "by my birthday I'm going to have my skin sorted" and it's never happened because I've just tried new skincare products, googled a bunch of "healthy skin recipes" and never made them, or resolved to do an at-home facial 2-3 times a week and forgotten. But now it's so possible. And seriously, 25 is far too old to still be having teenage skin problems I've decided.
Then, of course, there's the wedding, which we're hoping to have at the end of the year. By then, I'll be like "Skin problems? What skin problems?"

I am what I eat - Week 4

This week has been a bit of a challenge, and I've been learning how to work my new healthy living around a busy, busy life. I'm working two jobs at the moment - eight hours during the day then about three at night, every night, delivering Census forms- so it's been extremely hard to keep up with healthy eating. Sometimes I don't even have time to eat.
But! Despite all this, I began my week organised and, although our flat is the messiest I've ever seen it, healthy eating is taking priority over cleaning, so it's staying that way until I get a break on the weekend.
A lot of diets fail, and my theory is that it's disorganisation that makes them fail. If you plan your week, think about what you're going to have for dinner the night before, make extra so you can have it for lunch the next day, cook the easy stuff when you're busy and get creative on the weekends, all should go well as it has for me this week - except last night, when it was Noodle Canteen for dinner at 9pm, which to me isn't all that bad as it's full of veggies and freshly cooked.
The skin isn't looking as good as it was in week 2, and I put that down to stress, but now I'm in a good rhythm and I'm forcing myself not to worry about the little things like tidying the house, so I'm confident it will look fab by next Saturday.
Hope you've all had a happy, healthy week xo

I am what I eat - Week 3

There comes a point when you're trying to make a big life change, whether it's making yourself healthier, fitter, or getting your skin healthy, when you just hit the wall, even just a little bit, and for a few days you're just over it and wonder why you can't eat crap food like everyone else and not feel tired, slobby and get breakouts. And so you tell yourself "just this one time wont hurt" and you gobble down your mac'n'cheese full of things you're not supposed to eat. Then you eat some chocolate and feel instantly guilty. Then that, combined with a bit of stress, shows on your face. Well that's what it's been like for me this week anyway, and it's started showing on my face, though nowhere near as badly as it used to. So now that my engagement party is only two weeks away (!!!) I know I have to get serious and stop hitting the wall, remembering that everything I eat has an effect on the health and appearance of my skin. Sure, other people can eat what they want and have great skin, but I just have to accept that I'm not one of those people.
So from today onwards, I'm determined not to eat anything I shouldn't and take this busy life of mine in my stride instead of getting stressed about it.
One good thing came out of this week however, and that's my family following suit. Mum, who is already very health conscious, went and bought herself a water bottle (Eco tanka) because I told her Anya (naturopath) said you shouldn't drink out of bottles that aren't meant to be refilled - ie. Pump bottles. And my sister went on a shopping spree at Commonsense Organics because she wanted some of this "never-ending energy" I get from breakfast. I haven't forced anyone into anything, they've just seen my energy and my great skin and wanted it for themselves, so I'm really happy to be continuing this chain reaction my brother started and passing it round. Here's to a happy, healthy life for all!

Feel good Friday

How is it Friday again already?! And February too! Hasn't January just flown by so fast? It's been a good month though. I hope January has been good to you all too! February is usually one of the busiest months of the year for us and this year is no different, so I'm looking forward to all the fun times to be had in this beautiful sunshine that's supposed to leave us on Sunday but come back in the middle of next week, so off to the beach we go in between everything else...!
I do realise this post is way too full of exclamation marks... but I. Just. Have. So. Much. Energy!! See yesterday's post (below) for why that is... So it's been a great week, and it is for sure a Feel VERY Good Friday.

Things making me happy this week:

♥My skin has nearly cleared completely after just a week of my new healthy eating regime
♥Started a new novel, and am 1500 words in already
♥Had a fabulous photo shoot with little sis, as part of an exciting new project we're working on (details soon)
♥Still loving this whole being engaged thing - it's been a month already!
♥Endless sunshine
♥Healthy meals
♥New-found energy!

What's making you happy this week friends?
Have a lovely weekend! xo

I am what I eat - Week 1

About four months ago, I had a chicken breast for dinner and, not even halfway through, couldn't bear to eat the rest. It made me feel sick, and from then on I have had no desire to eat meat. I've always been a big meat eater - a big eater, really - so it was a strange feeling to suddenly stop eating meat. I haven't stayed away from meat completely however, as I've tested myself over the last four months, trying to ask my body whether it will ever consider eating meat again and like it. I ate a bit of turkey and ham over Christmas, but by the end of it I felt like there was a bunch of nasty, unnecessary stuff in my body which made me feel sick and didn't do my skin any favours.

So last Friday, I went to see a Naturopath for two reasons: #1 I had no idea what I was doing with this whole pescetarian (a vegetarian who eats fish) diet, #2 I have been suffering with problem skin since the hormones kicked in at 14 years old - nearly 11 years ago - and thought it was time to try a different tactic.

I'm not even a week in and already I'm feeling like going to see the Naturopath was the best thing I could have done for myself. After getting over the first week of being pescetarian - the tiredness, the dizziness - I began to feel healthier than I've ever felt before. But after seeing the Naturopath, I've realised what a strong and powerful thing the body is. You feel like you're eating healthy, and you think you have as much energy as you're supposed to have because everyone else around you burns out at around 3pm so it must be normal, right? That must be the body's limit, right? Wrong.

On Saturday morning, the day after I saw her, I ditched the peanut butter and jam on toast and ate the breakfast recommended to me - muesli, berries, almond milk and ground flaxseed mixed together. Not only was it delicious, but it kept me going all day. And I mean all day. From 7am to midnight, I never once felt tired and packed so much into my day. And that was just because I changed what I ate for breakfast.

As well as putting me on a bunch of supplements, the Naturopath recommended a protein rich diet with lots of good skin foods like berries and almonds thrown in, milk and other dairy products thrown out, and not even a week on I'm feeling the benefits of it. Staying away from processed food and going back to basic, organic food is also important and I've found myself analysing everything I eat, even snacks, figuring out what each piece of food will do for me. Will it clear up my skin? Will it give me long burning energy? If it doesn't do the things I need, I won't eat it. I no longer snack out of boredom, indulge in a chocolate bar because I'm having a crappy day. Even a sneaky late night supermarket mission for junk food has seen me return home with organic orange juice, rice crackers and hummus.

My skin is also looking better. It's a slow process, but it's getting there. When you struggle with bad skin, you spend so much time and money obsessing over things to put on your skin like cleansers, moisturisers, pimple cream, makeup, you forget that what goes into your body shows on your skin. So here's hoping, after 11 years of looking in the mirror and finding something wrong with my face every morning, I can eventually look in the mirror, put on some moisturiser and leave the house wearing a smile instead of makeup.

So why am I writing about this? Because the way we humans eat needs to change and, although I'm no expert on the topic, I hope that my journey will inspire people - even if it's just one person - to start thinking seriously about the food they eat and what it does to them and for them. You are limitless. Your body is powerful. Use it to it's full potential.

In about five weeks I'm going back to the Naturopath to report on my progress, so stay tuned every Thursday for updates, inspiration and healthy, easy recipes I've tried.

Apparently I'm a "Pescaterian"

I've always been a big meat eater. I was always the one standing with dad by the barbecue taste testing the steak, the one who devoured the Christmas ham, the one whose favourite pizza was meatlovers.
But about three weeks ago, when I made myself a nice hunk of crumbed chicken with a couple of fried eggs on the side, my body said to me "I don't want to eat meat anymore. And you know those eggs you've always loved? Yeah, don't want those either. Deal with it."
I had no choice in the matter. I can still eat fish, so that makes me not a vegetarian, but a pescatarian. So I haven't eaten meat in nearly two weeks, and, strangely enough, I feel fine. The tiredness and dizzyness stopped after the first week, which makes me think I'm getting everything I need from what I'm eating.
When I eat, I don't feel bloated or sick, just full and content. So I'm kind of liking it, although I do kind of hope I do go back to eating it at least occasionally, because I love to cook and there are so many meals I was planning on making but they all involve meat... and Christmas is coming...

The bad things about being a pescatarian:

♥ Explaining to people that you're not doing it to make a point about animal cruelty and then feeling slightly guilty when they look at you all askew and ask you why on earth not.
♥ Using more dishes to make dinner because I live with a serious meat eater, so there's a meat meal for him and a veggie meal for me.

The good things about being a pescatarian:

♥ I'm getting more creative with my cooking
♥ Cooking has become more challenging
♥ I'm discovering new recipes and find myself able to cook a meat version and a veggie version of the same meal at the same time.
♥ I feel really healthy
♥ I'm eating heaps more vegetables than I ever have
♥ My troublesome skin is looking better and better every day (finally!)
♥ Although I'm one of those girls that girls hate... I can eat whatever I want and not put on weight... :/ I always felt guilty about my eating habits, but now, food plays a slightly less important role in my life - I don't eat when I'm bored, I don't eat food just because it's there, and I don't eat too much

The best thing about being a pescatarian:

♥ My brother is a personal trainer and he's had some diet issues himself, so in our family he's the go-to guy for all things fitness and nutrition. So I told him about it on Sunday night and one thing he said has really stuck with me: "It's great that you're so aware of your body". That made me feel really proud, because, even though it freaked me out at first and I thought something must be wrong with me, I've now come to accept it. I've listened to what my body wants and, even though I don't understand why it wants what it wants, it's making me feel like a healthier, better-rounded person, and I think there's something to be said about trusting your instincts.

Healthy May - week 3

Good morning all, hope you all had a good Week three of Healthy May. I bet you all did better than me. I had tonsilitis all week, so it was soup and toast and no gym for me - just lots of sleeping. But I started feeling better on Saturday, so spent the afternoon baking and found this scrumptious muffin recipe. Enjoy :)

BANANA, PECAN AND BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Makes 12

Ingredients:

Olive oil

1 cup reduced fat milk

1 tsp lemon juice

1 ½ cups plain flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 cup bran flakes

½ cup sugar

1 egg

¼ cup olive oil

1 banana, mashed

1 cup blueberries

½ cup pecans, chopped

Method:
Preheat oven to 210 degrees. Lightly spray 12 medium muffin pans.
Combine milk and lemon juice. Set aside.
Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add bran and sugar. Make a well in the centre of dry ingredients.
Beat egg and whisk in oil and milk mixture. Pour liquid mixture into the well. Add banana, blueberries and pecans. Mix until the dry ingredients are just dampened.
Three-quarters fill each muffin pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

How did you all get on?

Healthy May - Week 1

So last week, I joined Amanda from Here Comes the Sun on her journey towards becoming more fit and healthy (I wrote this post about it) and I promised you a run-down of my healthy week, so here it is.

Fitness:
On Tuesday, I went to the gym and did a Body Combat class, which was amazing! I haven't been able to do it for awhile due to issues with my feet, but they have behaved themselves for the past week, so it felt so great to go back and punch and kick the living daylights out of some air! (Body Combat is mixed martial arts group fitness). Also hit the gym on Thursday for about an hour. For week two I'm hitting the gym three times!

Food:
I've managed to cut down a bit on my sugar - there's been no chocolate in the house and I'm saving money so I've been strict with myself about buying unnecessary food, and my meals have been relatively healthy this week.
For lunch this week I made a recipe out of The Healthy Skin Diet book called Roasted Sweet Potato Salad and it is delish! (the flaxseed oil can be a bit of a put-off because it's expensive but you only use a little bit so it lasts a long time and if you're not worried about your skin you can just leave it out) Who would have thought that curry powder and lemon juice go so well together? So here's the recipe...

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato/kumara, peeled and diced into bite-sized chunks
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon mild curry powder
Ground black pepper
Pinch sea salt
1 tablespoon flaxseed oil
200g rocket or baby spinnach (approx 2 handfuls)

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Place sweet potato/kumara in a bowl and mix with olive oil, then place on a baking tray and cook for 30 minutes or until pieces are soft and browned (not mushy). Remove from the oven and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the lemon juice, garlic, curry powder, pepper, salt and flaxseed oil. Then add the sweet potato and rocket, and gently mix.

*Tip: Replace lettuce with spinach or rocket in any meal. Lettuce is pretty much just water and gives you no nutrients at all, while spinach and rocket are full of nutrients and all those body-friendly things.


Goals for next week:

• Do weights and crunches every night before bed (flat stomach here I come!)
• Stay away from too much dairy, especially milk (inflames acne-prone skin)
• Hit the gym three times, including Body Combat on Tuesday
• Try a new recipe from The Healthy Skin Diet

How did everyone else get on?

Healthy May

So a great Kiwi blog I have been following for a couple of years now - Here Comes the Sun - did a post today about living a healthy lifestyle, and reminded me of the fact that we're more likely to succeed in things if we're held accountable - ie, if we blog about doing it, we must do it.
So she's doing this thing called Healthy May, where bloggers support each other in their healthy eating/weight loss/fitness goals by blogging at the end of each week about what they have done during the week.
Since I started on a health kick a couple of weeks ago anyway, I thought, why not join in? So every Monday I will be telling you all about my healthy week. Stay tuned!
I decided to go on a major health kick because my life has been very unsettled over the last 18 months and I slipped into bad habits like big bowls of pasta with creamy cheese sauce for dinner, chocolate as a snack, missing breakfast, lots of takeaways, and pretty much no exercise.
And although my weight isn't a problem (I know, people hate me... I'm one of those girls), my skin, which has always been problematic (it hasn't quite grown out of teenagehood yet even though I'm 24 next month) started to suffer for it. So I gave myself a kick up the bum, joined a gym, bought a book on Amazon called The Healthy Skin Diet by Karen Fischer, and started googling healthy recipes. Now I have stacks of healthy recipes that aren't just good for you, but delicious and cheap too! And I've got into some good habits which I'm hoping to stick to.
So if you want to join us, head over to Amanda's blog (linked above) and share your experience with us!

My Goals:

•Get to the gym at least twice a week
•Walk at least 30mins a day
•Limit chocolate/sugar intake
•Eat healthy meals

Simple, general goals I know, but this whole thing isn't about going on a fad diet for a month, it's about a lifestyle change, which is so much better because you're more likely to stick to it.