I'm still struggling with the sugar thing, but tasty savoury dishes like the above are helping- that was collards and aduki beans with a coconut, coriander, lemongrass and ginger sauce, served with millet. I made so much of this that there were leftovers for both lunch and dinner today.
Breakfast didn't win me top marks with the sugar police (I had some sugar and chocolate soy milk in my coffee, the jam on my oatmeal was sugar free, sweetened with apple concentrate instead), but I was off work as it was Ireland's national holiday, so I don't particularly care. That said, I actually preferred my next cup of coffee, which had no sugar added, just the tiny bit left at the bottom of the cup. It was the sugar we call demerara in the UK, but I think might be called Sucanat in the US. Not sure though. Before brekkie I had intended to go for a run, but realised just as I had climbed into my Skins and running skirt that I'd left my trainers in my parent's house. So I hopped on the exercise bike and then did some weights and squats, but I wasn't really feeling it. It didn't help that my tummy was upset this morning, it's still a bit iffy after all the soy milk and coffee I drank last week.
My skin is still really dry. This is it on a good day, it often cracks and bleeds. I reckon I should just moisturise more often, I use Lush's Dream Cream. I don't think there's much more I can do diet-wise to help with this problem. It sure does itch though, and it's hell doing the dishes (my get out clause, hehe) nevermind squeezing lemons. Ouch.
This was lunch, leftover collards, beans and millet from last night, grated carrot with toasted seeds, za'atar and lime juice and a big dollop of hummus. It shouldn't have worked, with the Morrocan spices in the hummus and the coconut/ginger of the beans and collards, but it was great. After this I went for a two hour walk and found some new places, but couldn't get any further along as the path got boggy and involved crossing a stream, and E didn't have the right shoes. It was fun. It was quite cloudy and still today though, so I felt really sleepy when we got back.
Being St Patrick's day, I had to eat green for dinner, so I made courgette (zucchini) pancake. It's basically just 3-4 courgettes grated and mixed with 1 cup of gram/chickpea/besan flour and spices of your choice. I did freshly ground coriander seeds and some garlic and smoked chilli mix that I had, plus a little salt and black pepper, oh, and 1/4 cup of nooch. The moisture in the courgette is enough to bind the mix together, then I cooked it in a little hemp oil in a large skillet. I steamed some green beans and tossed them in loads of fresh ginger, lime juice, sesame seeds and toasted sesame oil. I had the last of the coconutty collards/millet/beans and carrot salad from lunch. Delish! I sneaked a soy chocolate pudding after though...but I did turn down a raspberry beer.
I'm going to do
Meghan Telpner's How Low Can You Go low GI challenge starting on sunday. I'm actually slightly terrified by this, it's going to be quite hard. But I think if I do it, it will make me feel AMAZING. All that said, until today I was viewing this whole sugar problem the wrong way. I was worried it would make me put on weight more than anything. And while that's not impossible, it's not that important, not as important as my actual health. I realised today that I *am* happy with my body now, I had actually set an even lower weight target of 112lbs and got down to 114lbs. I'm back to 116 and I know that feels healthy, and realistic to maintain. I don't want to have to live off fruit until lunch every day, I need my oatmeal, and I can't do without some healthy fats, like nuts and seeds, and I certainly can't do without the odd square of dark choc. I guess I'm just scared I'll go back to what I was before. I am a little bit of a control freak, surprise surprise. Keeping sugar out of my morning meal should help keep me on an even keel.
Sometimes, though, I do still have 'fat' days, but it's not that I'm actually fat- those days are the days when my bowels are playing up, when I'm bloated and crampy, and there's nothing like being crampy and windy to make you feel ugly, fat and decidedly unsexy. I really want to go for a colonic, so I'm going to try and get one organised for next month. I'm broke at the moment but I'd love to have one before I go on my walking trip in May. For now, trying to eat a bit more low GI, no sugar in the morning and going easy on the soy and coffee, as well as eating smaller meals, and maybe more often if necessary, is the way to go.
