HAPPY FOOD
So, it's nearly two weeks since I stopped drinking and I'm really starting to notice the difference in my energy levels and general positivity. The guy's who I regularly see at the reception to my office - one of the security team, asked what I've been doing, as I seemed different in some way - more vibrant and extra friendly (jeez, I must have been such a moody b*stard before!). I explained my diet and the early starts and he said he'd like to lose a bit of weight and was on a diet too - It is Jan after all...Thing is, I reckon his diet is wrong for him as it's essentially giving him a lot less food than a man of his size needs and especially as he stands outside in all weathers, he'll be feeling it in the cold at this time of year. I've passed on the Paleo info - and I'm going to send him a link to the blog today. I've also spread the word to my partner and a good friend to see if we can get our beach bodies back in a month!
I've been reading the Paleo book by Robb Fox and starting to get a better understanding of how our digestive system works to break down the food we eat and how we use it as fuel. This is why I can see the Paleo diet really works. I ate well yesterday, cutting out the carbs as much as possible and taking on my daily amount of protein. This seemed to give me enough energy to take two intense yoga classes. The first was a dynamic yoga class with Geraldine of The Radiant Hand - these are excellent teachers who really teach yoga through discipline - giving clear direction, watching, walking the room and correcting poses. I'm starting to get a real flow now, my flexibility is really coming on and I believe I actually got an 'excellent' yesterday, my first - and coming from this teacher, it has spurned me on even more! The second class was at Fierce Grace in the City. I tried Bikram yoga before and liked the intensity of the stretching in the hot environment - and Fierce Grace is a newer cooler version of Bikram - with music. The class I took was 1.5 hours long and equally as much of an endurance test in the 40+ heat!
We had food after - tricky eating out on a Paleo diet but Busaba Eatai have some grill options and I went for the cod stir fry with broccoli, garlic and shitaki mushrooms instead of rice. I had to take my lemongrass tea without honey in it but it was still sweet anyway. I confess, I ate the cashew cookies (it's my weakness). The greatest thing about the meal was the bill, as it is 50% for the whole of Jan - and you can go as many times as you want!
Restocking the cupboard
Day 3 on the Paleo diet - and it's time to get the right foods in. So, we've been down the supermarket at 7am buying meat and fish amongst other things...
Funny how giving up drinking gives you more time - but it can leave a bit of a void for what to spend your money on...I'm really trying to save money, but so used to getting the wallet out - so the motivation for going down to Aldi at 7am this morning as it opened, was to make the most of picking up this week's offers! Aldi now has an organic range and it's a good place for getting packaged meats like ham, turkey and chicken and great value for buying bags of nuts and fresh veg, fruit etc. We also need to stock up on quality fish & meat - we have Waitrose and Sainsbury's very near - but there's a great butchers called Chadwicks also nearby (who also do delivery) that's going to have the best grass fed beef and free range stuff in the store - plus we have a locally sourced fish mongers that comes to our farmers market every saturday which I'll be buying from. My parents befriended our local butcher to ensure always getting the choicest cuts...and we ate really well as a kid. It's going to be more expensive as a rule, but if there's a proper fish mongers or butchers nearby - it makes sense to make the most of it.
The daily dose of Aloe Vera is really helping keep away any stomach issues and sticking to less acidic and non spicy foods is helping too. I've also been taking a supplement called Argi+ with anti-oxidants and vitamins - including L-arginine which is claiming to aid faster recovery after training. I've noticed that when taking before and after climbing or mountain biking, I've had less aching muscles the following day. I'll have to continue taking it to measure longer term benefits.
I'm not drinking tea or coffee during the day - but having an espresso in the mornings after eating. I've taken to regularly drinking freshly squeezed lemon in hot water (no honey or sugar added now though) and having a shot of Milk Thistle first thing in the morning - allegedly good for liver function.
First proper week back on the exercise routine. Here's how it's been in the week so far...
Tuesday was the first day back on the early boxing routine - really enjoyed pushing myself physically and mentally, it really helps to clear any angst or frustrations. I noticed a change in the core strength immediately after doing 100 situps at the end of the session. If you're in the London area and a member of Fitness First - we're having the sessions every Tuesday morning at 7.15-8am. If you'd like to know more and to join, email me at fitclubbox@gmail.com
Wednesday was a double helping of dynamic and hot yoga. I'm really starting to notice the difference in my flexibility and posture and my lower back aches and stiffness seem to have subsided considerably. I've got a great iPhone/iPad app for the days when you just want a quick 20 minute session at home or are on holiday - it's called Yoga Studio - available on the app store.
Thursday is my personal training day. So I'm going to really push myself and with all the good food I've been eating, should be on top of my game today. The guys at Ultimate City Fitness really know their stuff! Sign-up to get their daily newsletter giving advice on personal training, nutrition and achieving a leaner, stronger and fitter you. I'll be posting my routines up on a separate training page at some point in the near future.
I realise I'm spending considerably more time on the keyboard typing these days. I should know where the keys are after 20 years using a computer but I just do two-finger typing. So I've decided to teach myself to touch type. I've been using this great free typing tool called Typing Club and after doing 20-30 minutes a day for 5 days - I'm up to about 20 words a minute! There's still a lot a of work to do before I'm speedy enough to be using this method full time - but it's a start.
A final note on speed
Saving seconds from my day to do the important things by being efficient, are part of my research on how to do things better. I wrote in a previous post about using a long-life, aluminium free deodorant and said I'd come back to it soon. So, I applied a very liberal amount of cream on Monday morning. I've washed 1-3 times every day with soap and water, but haven't had to re-apply any deodorant in 4 days. That's pretty good considering all the sweating I do. So this product is £8 but it's meant to last for over a month. That means I don't have to carry deodorants around with me in my gym bag, saves me time and could save money in the long run - plus it has to be better for me not using aluminium products. This will be great for festivals me thinks...
It's not that I ever get a chance to smell, because I wash a lot - 1-3 times a day typically. I'm usually having a shower after cycling in to work in the morning, one at lunch time if I'm hitting the gym and one in the evening after cycling home. Do I need to wash so much - probably not? I'm also getting through a lot of shower gel - so I only use soap now. I've got a small bar of aloe soap (which you can get from Holland & Barratt) and a Speedo sports towel - which is small, light, faster and more efficient for drying yourself off with - it can also be used as a flannel if, like me, you don't want to wash yourself away with constant showers. It's easy to carry around and you don't have to wait for it to dry like a conventional towel - just wring it out!
No comments:
Post a Comment