Taking Charge: The Challenges

Moving towards a healthier lifestyle has its challenges: there are days when I don’t feel like exercising, eating healthily, where I’m feeling demotivated… I can deal with these but I have found that my biggest challenge is eating enough protein.

I know, right? I can just see your looks of puzzlement and surprise. How can I, a self-confessed carnivore, have a problem eating enough protein? Well, it’s harder than you think. With my new eating plan I’ve had no problems reducing my carb intake, but eating protein has proven a challenge especially as I have high cholesterol. It has been out with fatty meats - not that I ever ate much because I prefer lean meat but I do miss bacon! Red meat is a rarity as I only like the good cuts (read pricey and out of my budget) and I’ve therefore been eating a lot of chicken and fish. And then I went of chicken (it just tastes weird).

So what options am I left with? Not much it turns out. Beans and pulses are not an option for me because they are very starchy. Tofu is revolting and belongs in the same category as brussel sprouts and beetroot. I don’t eat eggs and there is only so much cottage cheese or ricotta anyone can eat. When my dietician told me how much cottage cheese I should eat in a sitting I thought she must be mad: a quarter to half a tub!

I’m starting to think that my disinterest in meat may be due to the fact that I am tired of cooking. There is nothing more demotivating than cooking for one person. No wonder single people live off ready-made meals. Woolworths knows what it’s doing.

On a positive note though: I’ve reached an incredible achievement in that I do not actually beat myself up or feel guilty if I don’t stick 100% to my eating plan, or if I decide to not go to gym on a gym day. I think that not feeling guilty is not only good for the soul but it can help me achieve more because I do not view the slippages as failures any more. For someone with ingrain guilt complex, that’s major.

Now to get my taste buds back into gear.

Kick-starting the new year

2012 has predominantly been a good year. I achieved quite a fw things on my bucket list, I got to go to the UK for the first time and had a blast, I lost weight (though some came creeping back), I enjoyed my work and I met many new and interestng people.

Yes my grandfather died and I was diagnosed with stress and anxiety induced depression, but's all part of life. I miss my grandfather very much and there is a bif sore hole I walk around with. I will never stop missing him but with time the pain will lessen. AS for the depression, happy pills make life much easier and te ones I'm on don't affect me like othe anti-depressants would. I actuall sleep well, something quite novel to me, and my libido hasn't taken a dip. I accept that this is something I will be living with for the rest of my life and I'm okay with that.

As for 2013, I think it will be a great year. Or at least, I plan to make it great. There are a number of things I am looking forward to: Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Metallica live in concert, and a trip down to PE around easter.

Then there is my bucket list, which is so much fun! I can't believe I waitedso long before putting one together. I guess I had to be in the right frame of mind.

I'm already starting the year 2kg lighter than when I left on holiday (thanks to insane temperatures in the kruger that made me live off water and a salad because it was too hot to eat anything else). My cousin Verena and my friend Lia's weight loss has inspired me to get back on board with weigh-less and to get fit again. I had done really well last year and then I got really ill over winter, that coupled with an overseas trip and my grandfather's death had a detrimental effect on the weight-loss and I piled on a couple of kgs. This year's aim is to loose 20kg. Fingers crossed. Healthy eating has started as of today and I know how hard 2 weeks of no coffee is going to be. That's the only part of weigh-less I don't like.

So here's to 2013! Bring it on! And who knows, I may meet the man I deserve this year ;-)

New beginings...again

The last couple of months have not been the greatest from a motivation point of view. Not surprising given my anxiety and depression. At least I made it to the psychiatrist and I am officially diagnosed with anxious depression. Basically I get stressed, which leads to anxiety which triggers depression. Not fun, but at least, like diabetes, there are pills that help out. So after almost a year without being on meds I am back on. This time it's Valdoxane, which works on serotonin receptors. It should also help with the anxiety, the poor sleeping and not cause weight gain or libido loss (the latter quite important to me). Fingers crossed!

So Monday is the start of a new week. I am feeling way better than last week. I had my first ever Bronchitis. When I woke up on Thursday - after 2 weeks of sniffles and coughing - and felt that I was breathing rice crispies, I knew things were not good. Off to doctor and onto antibiotics with lots of bed rest. I'm hardly barking anymore, the postnasal drip is gone and I CAN BREATHE! Phew. Never again please!

So with a new week, new meds and recovering lungs I have decided to get a grip on myself again and get motivated once more (or at least work towards it as much as possible, given my chemical circumstances). So it's back to eating healthily, exercising (in a few days, as I don't want to jinks the poor lungs and heart) and making sure that I have something to be grateful about every day. And to not let the little things get tome and make mountains out of molehills and

Happy Monday everyone!

The Meat Issue

I just read an article that got me thinking about what we eat. There is a huge debate / flame war going on out there and it's time I add my two cents worth regarding

OMNIVORES vs. VEGETARIANS vs. VEGANS

So lets get facts straight.

Omnivores eat everything. Veggies, starches, meat, fish and other animal products. I'm one of them. I thoroughly enjoy animal products.

Vegetarians fall in many categories. You have have the ones that will dairy products only , those that will eat fish only, those that will eat dairy and fish only.

And the Vegans, who will not eat ANY animal based product, or wear products made from animals (wool, leather, silk).

Then you have those on paleodo-diets who only eat veggies and meat. No grains. Apparently that's what our ancestors ate. I disagree. We certainly ate grains but only when in season, and veggies only in season and meat when we could catch it. The cave man did not have the best diet. Having done an Atkins diet (low carb high protein) once that viciously rebounded on me and messed up my entire metabolism, I can tell you Paleo is not the way to go.

So the whole debate people are having is that it's cruelty to animals to eat animals, bad for natural resources to do animal husbandry, bad for natural resources to destroy large tracts of land for mono-culture crops, that we have evolved to eat both vegetables and meat, that our digestive system is not geared to eat plant matter only etc. The list is endless.

So where do I, as an omnivore stand in all this? I do believe we are meant to eat animal protein. Our digestive system is not designed for pure vegetable diets. We haven't evolved that way. We digest meat-based iron better than plant based iron. And no, spinach is not very rich in iron. There are others plants that fare much better.

I'm not saying vegetarian diets are bad per say. Unfortunately many vegetarians don't quite consider what nutrients they need in order to be healthy and they get deficiencies and that's where the whole vegetarianism / veganism is bad for you argument comes from. I've known obese vegetarians because they predominantly ate starch. I've met on the verge of starvation vegetarians too. Not good. If you buy the correct books that tell you what plants have the right nutrients for you and how to balance your food, then you'll be a healthy vegetarian / vegan.

It's all about doing your research properly.

I think modern society consumes far too much meat. Fish is healthier, but you then have the dilemma of depleting the oceans resources and destroying marine ecosystems from poor fishing methods. Buy only from sustainable fishing practices. SASSI has a great booklet that will help you determine which fish you should buy.

The Meat-Free Monday is a good idea. But I recommend you extend it to every second day meat-free. There are many options to get protein: beans, chickpeas, soya (though soya monocultures are the reason for the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, so I say stay away from soya) and Quinoa.

It's all about balance. A bit of protein (the size of your palm), lots of veggies and fruit (the more colourful the better) and some starch. If you have a balanced diet you will not suffer from cholesterol, overweightness, heart disease...

Nuff said!

PS: Dear Vegans, let your babies have mother's milk. They need it more than your morals / ideals. Let them get mommy's antibodies, let them grow strong and healthy. Only when they are onto solids should you decide to go vegan on them. Don't forget the importance of omegas for their brain development too. Before you even think of bringing them up on vegan diet from day one go to your dietician and follow their advice. Seriously. It's for your baby's own good!