Fertilehealthy

My husband doesn’t particularly like zucchini in salad, so I always have to disguise it in ratatouille or vegetable stews. When my mom gave me a bag of freshly picked zucchini I knew that I would have to come up with something different if we didn’t want to end up eating ratatouille for a week. So I devised this soup and I must say, it’s delicious (there’s still enough for tonight).

Hanlie’s Homegrown Zucchini Soup

• 15-20 fresh zucchini, sliced
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 2 carrots, coarsely grated
• 2 large potatoes, cubed
• 1 handful of fresh basil
• water
• 2 Tbsp vegetable stock powder (MSG-free)
• salt and pepper to taste
• organic sour cream

Cover all the vegetables and basil with water, add the stock, salt and pepper and cook until soft.  Remove from the heat, add sour cream to taste and puree in a blender.  Voila!

Since we’re in the middle of a heat wave, we let our soup cool down to room temperature and it turned out very refreshing and surprisingly delicious for such an easy recipe.

I went to gym this morning after an absence of 10 months.  Nobody pointed a finger or jeered at me.  No alarms and flashing lights were set off when I put my access card in the slot.  They hadn’t moved the dressing rooms or changed the system.  The Pilates instructor remembered my name and didn’t make a big deal of my lengthy truancy.  It was all perfectly fine.

Which begs the question, “Why did I delay my return for so long?  Why was I so embarrassed to go back?”  It seems rather silly now…

Of course I’m still fat.  Of course anyone who recognizes me can see that I hadn’t made much, if any, progress since I came down with the flu in February and just never showed up again.  But that doesn’t mattter.  What matters is that I’m back now and I mean business.  And I’m loving it!

Which brings me to my weight results…  I did well for the 5 weeks before Christmas and even reached the 10% lost mark.  Then Craig was on vacation, and while we weren’t going wild, we were eating and drinking off-plan.  I was dismayed to see on January 2 that I had gained back 3 kg (6.6 pounds) in just 10 days.  Needless to say, I didn’t exactly hire a billboard to advertise the fact, although I discreetly posted the shameful truth on my Weight Stats page.

I weighed in this morning and was disappointed at the modest loss, once more posted without fanfare.  But I was being silly again.  I’m eating well and exercising, so obviously my body is just catching up.  And it’s only been 3 days!  What did I expect?  My body is doing its best and so am I.  The results will follow.

Yesterday I found the most amazing video on Dani’s blog (Kickin’ Away the Pounds) and I’m reposting it here, because you simply have to see it.  I’ve seen it about 10 times by now and it still brings tears to my eyes.

What a simple, yet inspiring, message!

It rang in my ears this morning when after about three minutes on the treadmill, I could feel blisters forming on my heels (new pair of Nikes).  I thought, “Bugger that, I’m not stopping!”  By about eight minutes I was in agony, but I kept on going.  When I got to eighteen minutes I upped the speed and ran for a minute.  I completed the twenty minutes and then went on to do 5 minutes on the arm cycle and 5 minutes on the elliptical.  And then I hobbled down the stairs like an old woman!  (This was all after I’d done an hour-long Pilates class).  Hanlie’s back, baby!

This afternoon I have to do grocery shopping and I’ll get some plasters to cover my blisters so that I can do it all again tomorrow… and maybe run for 2 minutes!

You know, this blogging community is simply wonderful.  I learn so much from people like Tony, Adam and Lynn, who have all lost significant amounts of weight in the past year.  They’re no different from me.  They don’t have a weight loss gene that I somehow lack (if they did they surely wouldn’t have gotten fat in the first place).  They’re not superhuman.  They don’t have more to live for than I do.  They simply knuckled down and did what needed to be done.  It was no easier for them than it is for me.  But instead of looking for excuses, they looked for reasons to succeed and ways to make it happen, regardless of the circumstances.  And this year I’m walking in their footsteps.  Which is why mere blisters will not stop me.  Pain is only pain after all.  It’s not structural damage!  My husband keeps telling me to toughen up.  He ran a 100 km (62.5 miles) event with bleeding blisters, so a mile on the treadmill is not going to kill me.

And when I fall I WILL get up.  Even if I have to do it a hundred times.  But when 2009 gives way to 2010, nobody who hasn’t seen me in 10 months will recognize me right away!

A few days into 2009, I have come to the conclusion that I don’t have New Year’s Resolutions, I have Lifestyle Revolutions!  

I’m having so much fun!  We’re back to eating healthy, following the Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat to Live plan.  This is great, because the excesses last week caused the lymph nodes in my armpits to swell up, which was quite painful.   My digestive system was also taking strain, but is back to normal now.  And I’m definitely losing the weight I gained between Christmas and New Year.  For me, eating well is just the right thing to do!

For years we’ve been starting our day with barley grass juice, but this year I’m adding a glass of freshly extracted carrot juice to our diet, consumed about 30 minutes before supper.  It’s delicious!

As you know, I hadn’t been exercising for months, but today is the third day in a row that I’ve gone for a walk.  Instead of jumping in my car to return the DVD’s every morning, I now walk.  I’ve worked out a route through some of the nicer streets in our neighborhood and it even has some inclines.  It takes me 25 minutes there and back and the effort leaves me quite puffed.  My muscles are well aware that I’ve been up to something…

On Monday I’m going to crash the 10:30 Pilates class at the gym.  I haven’t booked, but hopefully I’ll get in.  I really want to do Pilates four times per week.  I wonder if that free personal trainer consultation, that I never took up in May, is still available…  I could really use some help with strength training. If it’s not I’m just going to have to take a deep breath and pay for a session.

My parents have been so encouraging these last few weeks.  We’ve become much closer and it all stems from the fact that I lent them my copy of The China Study, which blew their minds and prompted a lifestyle change for them.  They had the “why”, but they needed the “how”, and for Christmas I gave my mom a copy of Mary-Ann Shearer’s absolutely fabulous book Perfect Health: The Natural Way (of course I got myself a copy too and you can expect a review in the near future).  So, now my parents have a better understanding about what I’m doing and they are phoning for advice and recipes all the time.  When we visit we try out new healthy recipes and compare notes on how our health is improving.  They’re very keen to go off their cholesterol medication soon and my mom’s sinuses have not been this clear since the early 1970’s!

So, the other day my dad was encouraging me to go to gym and exercise.  He told me that it’s important to keep a log of my activities and suggested I design an Excel spreadsheet.  I just nodded, thinking that these days we’re far more advanced.  I can go to a thousand websites that will help me log my workouts.  Except, I haven’t found one that I really like, or that meets my needs 100%.  Dad was right, Excel it is!  Fortunately I used to be the Queen of Spreadsheets in my previous life as an accountant, so I designed the perfect spreadsheet for my needs.  It has a page that tracks my weight loss in pounds and kilograms, percentage, totals for this year and overall and my waist measurement in centimeters and inches.   There’s a logbook page for each month where I can record my cardio minutes, strength minutes, swimming minutes (I’m going to start swimming properly this year) and Pilates minutes.  It gives me a running total in minutes for all intentional exercise for the month, which is also displayed to the sidebar of my blog.

I tried to take some “fat” photos yesterday, but I can’t get them right by myself.  I’ll get Craig to take some tomorrow.  I may do one in a bathing suit, which I will NOT show to the public until I’m thin!

For the last few months I’ve been using organic coconut oil instead of commercial skin moisturizer on my face and I must say, I’m very impressed with it.  So now that my nasty chemical face wash is finished, I have switched over to the Oil Cleansing Method and I’m loving it!  I’ve made my cleansing blend with 50% castor oil, 30% cold-pressed EVOO and 20% tea tree oil (I have an oily skin, hence the high concentration of castor oil).  Of course I know that if I eat badly, it doesn’t matter what I put on my skin.  Fortunately my diet is very good for the skin and now that I’m not using chemicals any more, I expect major improvements.  I’ll keep you updated.

I am also doing well in the body brushing and contrast shower department.  I now keep a little scouring pad in the shower and while I go through the various water temperatures, I scrub my tiles!   It’s all about multi-tasking.

My house work has become a lot easier this year.  The tree that was messing up my whole front yard has stopped flowering, so I don’t have to sweep up a bin full of stuff every day.  The neighbor’s tree that messes on my enormous back patio is also in a less messy state, which is just as well, since I was about to tell her to either get rid of the tree or come and sweep my patio every day!   But the best news is that my new vacuum cleaner is absolutely fabulous and picks up the cat hair and dust on both the wooden floors and the tiles.  And my new twisty mop makes washing the floors much less of a chore.  Cleaning the house is still a workout for me, but of course I’m not including that in my workout logs!  I’ve been without my domestic for a month now and I’m very proud of how well I’ve coped.

My parents have planted some tomatoes and peppers and I’m inspired to do the same…  My garden needs a serious intervention though, and I just don’t know when I’m going to do it.   I’m thinking 6 am, before my DVD walk, gym and the heat of the day.   Talking about a revolution, indeed!

So far I’m loving 2009!  How are you doing?

Welcome back after the Festive Season. I hope you all had a great time!

In the last Fertile Friday post I spoke about why we need to detoxify when we’re preparing for pregnancy and I gave a list of ways in which we can help our bodies detoxify, including eating a natural whole foods diet, drinking water and exercising.  But if you have health problems, you may need to go the extra mile and do a cleanse.

There are various types of cleanses and today I’m going to discuss some of them in more detail.

Fasting:

Fasting is an age-old healing (both physically and spiritually) regimen that have fallen out of favor with the advent of drugs and modern medical practices.  Let’s first define it:  Fasting is a period of physiological rest, during which the body redirects its energies to any problematic areas.  Only water is consumed for the duration of the fast.

Most people can fast, provided that they prepare for the fast, are able to rest physically and emotionally for the duration of the fast and, in cases of longer fasts, have adequate supervision.  Fasting is ideal for heart disease, diabetes (under supervision), high blood pressure, asthma, arthritis, skin disorders, cysts, tumors, weight problems, hormonal problems, colds and flu and digestive ulcers. 

People who should not fast include those in the last stages of cancer, people with Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, or severely damaged kidneys or livers, pregnant and breastfeeding women, women with IUD’s like the Mirena, anyone on chronic medication (you will have to be weaned off your meds first under medical supervision) and of course anyone who’s had an organ transplant.

During a fast we “shut down the factory for maintenance”.  We literally force ourselves into a rest period during which the body repairs itself, and all the organs and systems function far more efficiently as a result.

So what happens during a fast?

• There is a breakdown of body fat.
• There is a diversion of energy - the body diverts energy away from the digestive system to where it’s needed for repair and renewal.
• Physiological rest takes place.  Our organs need a good rest from time to time too, especially after years of abuse through a poor diet and unhealthy lifestyle.
• Wastes are eliminated efficiently from the blood and tissues. 
• Cholesterol deposits in the arteries are broken down and can now be used by the endocrine system to produce hormones, or they are eliminated by the liver.
• Clots in the bloodstream are broken down (fibrinolysis).
• Cysts and tumors are broken down (autolysis).
• Excess salt and water are excreted through the kidneys, lowering blood pressure and reducing weight (diuresis).
• The body’s defense system is stepped up and harmful bacteria and viruses that may have been lying dormant for years, are destroyed (phagocytosis)

In a nutshell, what happens during a fast is that the body is able to repair itself efficiently because or the optimal conditions provided by the fast.

A fast should be planned carefully.  It is advisable to read as much as possible about fasting before you start.  You can fast on your own for up to three days (the first day is the hardest and then it gets much easier!), but if you have a lot of excess weight or some serious health problems you can fast for longer under the supervision of a health care professional who has experience with fasting.

Ideally you should eat raw foods for a few days before fasting to help your digestive system clean out.  During the fast you should rest as much as possible and spend at least 30 minutes outside every day.  You should not be working or exercising (although a few gentle stretches won’t hurt). You should be drinking plenty of water, to help the cleansing process, but remember that too much water is also dangerous, so don’t force liters of water down your throat.

The reason why longer fasts should be properly supervised is not that fasting is dangerous, but because you will experience some rather unpleasant and sometimes severe detoxification symptoms, like headaches, migraines, dizziness, nausea, muscle cramps, diarrhea, foul breath, dry mouth, skin rashes, mouth ulcers, acne, boils, post-nasal drip, alarming dreams, cold shivers, coated tongue, bouts of crying and many more.  Of course you should never take any medication to suppress any of these symptoms, as they are part of the elimination process.  They can be frightening and you will need to have someone who can reassure and encourage you and also assess the situation.  If the symptoms are too severe (which is very rare), you may have to end your fast.

It’s best to break a fast on diluted freshly extracted fruit or vegetable juices, followed by a period of raw food.  Do not touch salt or any food additives, as this will trigger a wild eating frenzy.

You do not need to go on a prolonged fast to experience the health benefits of fasting.  Some people fast one day per week or month, others fast one weekend per month or every few months, or one week per year.  Your body always appreciates the rest!

Probably the best book about fasting is Fasting and Eating for Health:  A Medical Doctor’s Program for Conquering Disease by Joel Fuhrman.  If you’re interested in fasting as a means to healing, this is the book to read.

However, in our busy modern lives, fasting may not always be possible.  Not all of us can withdraw ourselves from our families and daily activities, or we may fear the fasting process, in which case we should not do it.  Fortunately there are other ways to cleanse.

Juice Feasting:

Until about a year ago I had heard about juice-fasting, but what I’d heard hadn’t been very positive, so it was not something I would ever consider.  Then I heard about Juice Feasting and the more I read, the more I knew that I would have to do this.

Juice Feasting is the process by which the body cleanses and repairs itself while consuming at least four quarts (about four liters) of freshly extracted vegetable juice, and some freshly extracted fruit juice, every day.  Because you are taking in plenty of nutrition, but not digesting food, you can continue working and exercising during juice feasting and your body will still have plenty of energy for repair.

Last year I took part in a Global Juice Feast and it was probably one of the most amazing and blessed events of my life.  I felt wonderful most of the time (apart from some occasional uncomfortable detox symptoms) and healed some long-time health problems, not to mention a few emotional issues.  I wrote about my experiences during my 80-day Juice Feast here.

Making the juice every day is hard work and you do go through a LOT of produce, but I loved the Juice-Feast and will probably do another, shorther one this year.  Once again, you don’t have to do it for a prolonged period of time.  You will benefit from one day per week, or 2-3 days every few months.  Visit the Juice-Feasting website for a wealth of information. 

Fruit Cleanses:

You will even benefit by eating only fruit for a day or more on occasion.  Try to have only one kind of fruit per day, so that your digestive system doesn’t have to work too hard.  Remember to drink water too!

Raw Food

There are people who live on raw food only and they are very healthy.  The more raw food you include in your diet, the better.  You may want to try the occasional day of eating only raw.  It’s not so difficult - you start with a fruit and raw cashew shake in the morning, followed by fruit or vegetable salad for lunch.  Supper is another big salad with lots of green vegetables like cucumber, snow peas, baby spinach, mushrooms, red bell pepper and cherry tomatoes, drizzled with some freshly squeezed lemon juice and cold-pressed olive oil.  Delicious, and your body will thank you.

I’m sure that among these disciplines you will find something that will appeal to you and fit in with your lifestyle.  Cleansing is a vital part of preparing for pregnancy and getting fertile, so I really recommend that you consider it.  And remember, it’s all part of a healthy lifestyle, not in lieu of a healthy lifestyle!

Next week we’ll conclude the series about detoxification.  Don’t miss it, because I bet you’ll learn a few things that will surprise you!

Happy New Year!  I hope you had as nice a time as we did! 

The high tea was fabulous and served as both breakfast and lunch.  Highlights included the fabulous cucumber and salmon sandwiches and the best baked cheesecake I had even eaten (I limited myself to only one piece of cheesecake, but let’s just say I made quite a dent in the sandwich tray…).   Afterwards we went home and I sweated behind the ironing board for two hours to compensate.

In the late afternoon we kissed our cats goodbye and drove out to the Winelands to see in the New Year with my family.  My parents live on a wine farm (not theirs - I wish!) and visiting there is so good for the soul.  The views are fabulous from the verandah, the lovely garden is teeming with bird life and the air is pure champagne.

Fortunately it was not too hot and we could enjoy the barbeque on the verandah.  Most of these pics have been taken from the verandah.  The first one of the mountain view was taken late afternoon and the second one early evening.

We ended up watching some concerts on TV until 2 am.  I was up again at 6:30 am to welcome the new day and the new year in private.

We had a great deal of fun this last week, but now is the time to knuckle down and change my focus.  That doesn’t mean the fun has ended!  It’s just a different kind of fun.  Certainly not the hedonistic kind.  More the responsible kind that leaves one with a sense of accomplishment.

My mom made delicious fruit smoothies for breakfast.  Then we went for an invigorating walk among the vineyards.  We came home before lunch and made a big salad.  Supper will be brown rice and oven-baked ratatouille. 

The long-awaited 2009 is finally here and I’m so ready!