I’m on day 10 of the challenge (although it officially starts on October 1)…

Everything is going really well so far… a few small hiccups (yesterday I couldn’t exercise because of women’s problems of the most immense nature) and once or twice dinner has been something simple like a bagel with vegan spread or peanut butter on as my days are so very busy I just run out of time to spend 30 minutes cooking..

But overall I am very pleased how things are going indeed!

CALORIES

Every day, as part of the challenge, we have to write down EVERYTHING we eat. This has been very helpful. Although I am not restricting my calories I am using the 2000 calories a day mark as a guide line and trying to eat ENOUGH.(yes you hear that right- eat enough!!! ) Yesterday I had around 2100 cals and the day before I had 1900 cals….. I just don’t sweat it.

As I am eating such large portions of leafy green veggies and a variety of other vegetables and fruits, it’s important to get in enough protein and calcium too. Actually leafy green vegetables have LOTS of protein in them but there are different types of proteins and at the moment I am reading up on diet and nutrition. I am also using great websites like http://whfoods.org/diseasestoc.php that has a HUGE directory of nutritional values of wholefoods when working out the amounts of fats, vitamins and minerals etc in my diet..

MOVING AWAY FROM PROCESSED FOODS & EATING MORE ORGANIC

One of the main things I am hoping to achieve is to move away from processed foods and reduce my reliance on these as much as possible. I still have breads (although much less then I did) and I use soy sauce and some salad dressing but nearly everything else is simply just food in its raw state (raw nuts, fresh vegetables, pulses, beans, rice, fresh fruit).

Here is one of the most exciting things I am discovering- my taste buds! Suddenly I am realizing just how sweet grapes are! A simple thing I took for granted before is now my new candy! A simple sweet grape is divine

EXERCISE

Here’s the biggest thing I still can’t believe… I can now do 30 minutes of walking (without stopping!).

10 days ago when I handed in my application form for the “60 day fitness challenge” one of my goals was “being able to walk for 40 minutes non-stop”. At that time I could barely walk 5 minutes…

Now I walk 10 minutes at lunch time and 30 minutes after work (or before)… who would have thought such an improvement could be made in less than 10 days. It’s been hard work, I’ve had to push myself but the sense of achievement is wonderful…

DAY 9 FOOD

Breakfast
Large organic oatmeal with handful of blueberries (350)
20 raw almonds (200)

Snack
1 small banana (150)

Lunch
Huge bowl of raw spinach salad with tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper and onions dressing + 2 wholewheat wraps (600)

Snack
10 organic crackers (100)

Dinner
Large veggie stew with mixed beans/lentils (olive oil for frying onions and mushrooms) (500)

Drinks- 2 litres of water + green tea

Today I am so full of motivation and joy I think I could leap tall buildings in a single bound or even forgive DC Comics for removing Supermans red overpants (what were they thinking!)

If the truth be known, the reason Superman no longer has red overpants is simple….. I have them.

And the reason I have them (apart from the obvious perverted reasons) is that I have earned them…

This week I have used “super powers” I didn’t know I had and LOST 6LB! The red overpants (which I’ve secretly worn as underpants) have

- enabled me to walk for 40 minutes each day,
- helped me decrease my lap time at the track from 3 minutes to 2.5 minutes
- given me the power to yesterday, actually overtake some other walkers (when normally it is me being lapped)
- kept me focussed on eating a heathy balanced vegan diet (around 2000 cals a day)

In reality, I have worked very, very hard to achieve this so I am so very pleased that this first official week on my 60 day fitness challenge has provided me with a tangible result. I also know the exercise has made a real difference as I started eating vegan 10 days before the 60 day fitness challenge started and lost just 4 lbs.

Red overpants or no red overpants, Christopher Reeve or Henry Cavill…. at this moment it isn’t important.

Hell I’m so motivated today not even Kryptonite could keep this gal (ok middle aged woman) down!

Sorry Superman- I am keeping your red overpants just a little longer!

No exercise today… Sunday is my day of rest and I was rather lazy.

I went to bed early tonight (9 am) but unfortunately the brussel sprouts, chopped and added to my stir-fry, decided it would be nice to wake me up at precisely 1 am with a severe case of flatulence …. it ain’t pretty!

So while I wait for it to all calm down I thought I’d write some stuff about vegan junk food.

Prior to starting the challenge I tried out various vegan alternatives to meat and cheese and dairy. I tried Tofu (firm), Tofurkey (a sliced meat alternative), soy cheddar cheese, soy yogurt, Earth Balance Vegan margarine, soy milk and cream, almond milks and finally vegan ice cream…

Although everything on my list isn’t strictly junk food (the unsweetened soy milks and almond milks etc are not messed with) I am just simply using the expression to cover food stuffs that have been processed to be formed into something else..

Of all the vegan processed foods I tried everything soy based (apart from the Earth Balance Vegan Margarine) tasted bloody awful, the Tofu was acceptable in a stir-fry but still had a taste I didn’t care for much and the Tofurkey was OK on a vegan pizza.

Almond milk is a great alternative to regular milk and I have a glass 4 or 5 days as week as a bedtime hot chocolate

The one thing that was absolutely and totally delicious was the vegan ice cream- it wasn’t soy based (thank god!) but made from coconut milk and coated in almonds and carob… it was expensive at $6 for 4 ice creams on sticks but having one as a weekly trick is something rather nice to look forward to!

Day 5′s menu- 1950 calories

Breakfast- 2 slices of wholewheat toast, an organic banana, organic vegan margarine and marmite to top! 1 glass or organic mango juice. (600 cals)
Lunch- 20 organic multi-seed crackers (200 cals) + 2 tablespoons or organic peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of strawberry jam (300 cals) + 1 glass or organic mango juice
Dinner- Huge veggie stirfry (olive oil and soy sauce) + small portion of organic egg free wholewheat pasta (700 cals) + 15 grapes

6 glasses of water

It’s going really well… it’s not easy though.

With the veganism it’s very challenging at times. I was so used to mindlessly placing cubes of cheese in my mouth when cooking or making sandwiches that I have literally stopped myself at the last moment, from “nomming” on cheese while preparing food for my youngest Hobbit, Em. BUT with hand on heart, I have eaten vegan 100%…

That’s not to say I haven’t wished for a juicy steak or a bacon buttie…. I am only human after all.

Proof of walking

Perhaps the thing I am most proud of is the walking challenge. For many months now I had taken no exercise… I am very unfit. So walking 40 minutes a day (6 days a week) was and still is a daunting prospect for me.

Even on day 2 of the challenge I almost didn’t go to the track. I sat at work with a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other and the conversation we had was interesting..

Devil: “You ache, your back hurts, you’re running late, you won’t get back home to the kids until 7 pm, not going for one day won’t hurt”
Angel: ” If you miss one day you’ll miss two days then three days, you have to do this for yourself and for your kids, think of your health, remember that Serenity Dress and those big black boots you NEED to possess….”

Doing exercise on Saturday was difficult too but in the end the girl Hobbits and I all went to the track and walked which ended up being quite fun…

I hate full length body photos, my big wobbly bottom, but for the sake of proving that I do visit the track I’ve enclosed some thankfully blurry photos!

Oh and here is one of my incentives to keep going…

A geeky dress with the ship SERENITY on it and some rather sexy vegan boots. I WILL POSSESS THESE ONE DAY AND THEY WILL LOOK GOOD!

Organic bean salad with mixed greens, raw broccoli and sweet pepper

I take pictures of pretty food…

I’m just eating my lunch and took this photo (by holding my computer upside down and using the webcam to take a photo) of todays salad… as I am a huge Firefly fan (just become one and it’s becoming scarily obsessional) I’d even say it was “SHINY”

I love shiny things

C xxxx

The fab track at HB Studios Sports Centre

Day 2- 60 day fitness challenge
Challenge is walking 40 minutes a day- Going vegan for 60 days to detox

Fitness – 40 minutes walking
I achieved my goal of walking for 40 minutes again! I took a 10 minute walk during my lunch break at work followed by 30 minutes walking at HB Studios Sports Centre. I take 3 minutes to do each 200m lap but timing other people, they take about 2 minutes. Unfortunately I’m the slowest on the track but then again I am twice as heavy! I did chat to a lovely lady afterwards who had been on the track with me, she was very encouraging to me and I thought that was so nice….

Food – 60 day Vegan detox.
I started eating vegan 10 days before the challenge started as I knew it wouldn’t be easy… this was my time period to become familiar with veganism and work out my eating plan. The most important thing would be

a) to ensure that my diet incorporated large quantities of antioxidants and leafy green veggies as well as necessary proteins, vitamins and minerals necessary for good health (I also take a daily natural multi-vitamin and green foods supplement)
b) that one meal a day incorporated veggies in their raw state to gain full benefit (ie cooking vegetables kills off many of their natural enzymes). I tend to have a large salad for lunch and a green smoothie daily (which has lots of leafy green vegetables in like raw spinach or kale)

Food – Vegan diet 1800 cals today

Large organic oatmeal (300 cals)
10 organic multi-seed crackers (100 cals)
Large mixed bean salad (1/2 can) + tomato, lettuce, cucumber, onion dressing (500 cals)
20 raw almonds (200 cals)
2 tomatoes (50 cals)
Large veggie stir fry with olive oil, soy sauce & 10 cashew nuts + broccoli, brussel sprouts, onions, mixed veg, tomatoes (500 cals)
5 organic multi-seed crackers (50 cals)
1 cup of orange juice (100 cals)

8 glasses of water
1 green tea

Start weight- 299lbs on home scales, 312 fully clothed with shoes on work scales
B/P- 176/88
Pulse- 85

Yesterday I walked for 40 minutes… (as part of the 60 day fitness challenge I have committed to walking 40 minutes per day- 6 days per week)

I can tell you now this was a HUGE achievement for me and I’ll not be shy in blurting it out for everyone to hear!

During lunch break at work I went for a 10 minute walk and after work I went to HB Studios Fieldhouse where they have a fabulous indoor track, with a springy surface AND it’s climate controlled too!

I get lower back pains when I exercise- compression pains on my lower spine. The are actually quite painful – my weight causes it so that’s why it’s so important to finally get something done about it! No use in me whinging when I can cure myself is there!

I did 5 laps (the most I have ever done) and took a breather for 5 minutes and then did it again! Ok so it was a leisurely pace and I was being lapped by 75 year olds BUT the thing is I did it! I didn’t give up at 5 laps… I rested for a few minutes then did it all again…I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!!

Day 1 Food

Breakfast
Large Organic Oatmeal- 1 tsp raw cane organic sugar (300 cals)
500 ml of homemade Green Smoothie (300 cals)

Snack
5 organic crackers (50 cals)

Lunch
Large mixed bean salad with onion dressing (500 cals)
Mixed organic beans (1/3 rd can), lettuce, spinach, pepper, tomato, cucumber

Snack
Wholewheat bread roll (200 cals)

Dinner
Large stir-fry veggies cooked in 4 teaspoons of olive oil and soy sauce (400 cals)
Chopped brussel sprouts, broccoli, spring onions, mixed veg, tomato

Evening
20 raw almonds (200 cals)
1 mug of almond milk hot chocolate (100 cals)

TOTAL CALORIES 2050

Clear Liquids= 8 glasses of water, 1 green tea.

PS I also take a natural multi-vitamin supplement as well as green food supplement daily

Today I started my 60 Day Fitness Challenge… My challenge is to walk for 40 minutes 6 days a week. I am also turning vegan for 60 days. The combination of both, I hope, will lose me 30 lbs …

Lighthouse Media Group (my employer) is very proactive in wellness/health/fitness. There is always something going on to encourage a heathier lifestyle…

Being proactive means making changes before problems occur rather than making changes after problems occur. If we all made some fundamental changes to our lifestyles by increasing exercise, increasing consumption of fresh vegetables and fruit, reducing consumption of dairy, meat and saturated fats and stopped eating junk food and smoking, there would be a significant decrease in diabetes, coronary heart disease and cancer, just to name a few.

I’m not sure why it has taken me 45 years to truly realize this…. I guess when we are younger we suspect we are immortal.

So I am going to keep my daily food diary here online, it will help me focus on eating healthily and follow improvement on my fitness.

I’ll also do a weekly weigh in and B/P check

I think it’s a great initiative and a great experiment!

C xxxx

“NOWS THE TIME TO LET FOOD BE OUR MEDICINE- CLICK VIDEO ABOVE”

I’ve ran a historical cuisine blog for two years now… the reasons for doing the blog were to a) Re-create recipes from WWII that were made during rationing b) To see whether living on a 1940s ration diet (where animal meats and fats were cut drastically) would improve my health and reduce my weight. Click here for the 1940s Experiment

When I stuck strictly to rationing (which involved using meat and dairy sparingly and increasing the amount of vegetable based dishes) my weight reduced significantly…

I re-affirmed my belief that meat and dairy should only be consumed in small quantities.. and that we should ditch the processed food in our diets.

BUT it’s difficult to stay on the straight and narrow with so much temptation around you and it wasn’t long before I fell off the wagon (I always jump back on though and try again)

BLOOD PRESSURE

And then I decided to get my blood pressure checked out again. Taken at rest it was a pretty awful 176/88 …. not good news for a 45 year old woman. (I’ve since bought my very own blood pressure monitor for $29 and will take weekly readings to follow my progress)

I worry a lot about something happening that could significantly effect my children’s lives so I’ve been researching all I can into taking action and turning my health around as quickly and as safely as possible.

As I studied I found that all the foods that lower blood pressure are vegetable or fruit based (spinach and bananas are two that spring to mind) I believe that prevention is the way forward but I also believe that by changing my nutrition around with a concerted effort, I can lower my blood pressure and improve my health.

Changing to a plant based diet (vegan) I think fills all those requirements and I have full faith that the next 8 weeks of my vegan challenge will lower my blood pressure and lower my weight.

And today I was left a link on my blog to a new documentary that is available on DVD..

It appears to be a fascinating documentary on how we as people have to start taking responsibility for our own health… I REALLY want to watch this.

Review from IMDB.com

What has happened to us? Despite the most advanced medical technology in the world, we are sicker than ever by nearly every measure. Cases of diabetes are exploding, especially amongst our younger population. About half of us are taking at least one prescription drug and major medical operations have become routine. Heart disease, cancer and stroke are the country’s three leading causes of death, even though billions are spent each year to “battle” these very conditions. Millions suffer from a host of other degenerative diseases. Could it be there’s a single solution to all of these problems? A solution so comprehensive, but so utterly straightforward, that it’s mind-boggling that more of us haven’t taken it seriously? FORKS OVER KNIVES examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the so-called “diseases of affluence” that afflict us can be controlled… Written by Brian L. Wendel

The biggest challenge for going vegan for 8 weeks will be giving up cheese.. I am addicted to the stuff. Cheese is extremely high in saturated fats so it’s hardly surprising I am the size I am.

I decided to try a vegan soy based cheese… it looked good. Just like regular cheese infact. So confident that it would indeed be as tasty as it looked I placed a generous cubes worth in my mouth and chewed. Cats piss would have been more palatable…

That’s when I began to look around for alternatives…

After some research I put together my own recipe for a cream cheese. It was totally awesome and totally yummy…. and if you pretend hard enough it tastes a little cheesy!

Cashew Nut Cream Cheese

1.5 cups of raw cashew nuts (place in a container and cover with cold water and soak for 1-2 hrs)
1-2 teaspoons of nutritional yeast (a deactivated flaked yeast that helps adda cheesy taste)
1/2 lemon (the juice from)
1/2 a chopped red, orange or yellow pepper
1/2 to 1 clove of garlic
generous pinch of dried italian herbs
A little extra water or almond milk

Method

This is soooooo simple!

Place all the ingredients (drain the cashew nuts) into your blender with a tablespoon of water or almond milk.

Blend until smooth (adding extra water if needs be just a little bit at a time)

Makes about a jam jar full. I fill two wide mouth mason jars up and place in fridge. Can be used as a cheese spread or dip into right from the jar.

Tip
It is really nice on crackers or rusk. I serve it with a sliver of sweet pepper over the top, some chopped spring onion and some extra herbs