Do or Diet

Just attended a workshop concerning ketogenics, detoxing and fasting. Having had my all-inclusive (read greedy) holiday in January, I decided it might be time to do a bit of cleansing and shedding.

The talk was very informative, if a little scientific. A lot of it went over my head. What I did learn was that it was quite a difficult process when you're vegetarian. The ketogenics diet is high fat, medium protein and low carbohydrate. Being a non meat or fish eater, most of my protein intake has to come from eggs although some cheese and nuts could be eaten. I can't eat potatoes, rice, pasta, beans and pulses, currently a large part of my diet. Even vegetables were limited with no kale or spinach allowed. Fat could come in the form of avocado and cooking with coconut oil 'though I find this sometimes has an aftertaste. Ah, tricky.

Detoxing involved making sure I took in extra salt and used activated charcoal to bind various chemicals and filter them out of my system as waste. I questioned what happens to the medication I take on a daily basis. Is that filtered out of my system too? Ah, maybe.

Having mentally ruled out ketogenics and detoxing I thought maybe occasional fasting might do the trick. Slightly worried about my tendency towards migraines when I don't eat regularly, I asked if there were any tricks to prevent this. Ah no, don't fast if you suffer migraines because it messes with your blood sugar levels.

It all sounded quite complicated. I think without understanding a lot more and getting a nutritionist to give me a personal plan to follow, I'll give it a miss. I'm not overweight and actually probably just need to eat a little more healthily and do a bit more exercise. Everything in moderation.

Ah well, looks like I'll have to do it the hard way. Today I went for my first run of the year. Honestly it was more like a shuffle but it's a start. The diet starts tomorrow (or maybe the next day ...)

Leaping in to the New Year!

Only three days in to January and enjoyed a lovely brunch with friends at a healthy eating cafe. Topics of conversation included Dry January, detoxing and the NutriBullet! What a sign of the times; our age, our lifestyle and the world around us!

Over the festive period I received a text message from WaterAid asking me to only drink water for the month of January, presumably to be sponsored and raise money for this worthwhile cause. Whilst I can give up alcohol for a month, cups of tea might be a stretch too far! 

I picked up a leaflet in said healthy eating cafe this morning entitled Juice and Soup Cleanse information pack. Basically there are three cleanse programmes to choose from, all of which include a lot of liquid and very little solids. I take my hat off to anyone who likes that much soup, juice, hot water and herbal tea and who gets excited by a handful of nuts! Personally I'm a believer in everything in moderation so will not be partaking in this extreme diet.

However I am planning to do Dry January again. I'm not a massive drinker anyway but quite like the idea of restoring the December/January equilibrium! I'll drink more water with occasional lime or elderflower sodas and maybe even have a mocktail for a treat.

As for food, I have eaten enough individually wrapped chocolates and toffees from tubs and will not crave another for a little while.

On New Years Eve at a Murder Mystery Dinner I took the part of Mae Vest and enjoyed researching quotes by Mae West to throw into conversation. One of my favourites was:

I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.

Haha - well said Mae!