And the benefits keep coming…

Well this past 2 weeks have been a lot easier for me.  I have found some great recipes, and have even been able to persuade my husband and son to jump on board with enthusiasm.

I keep noticing more benefits to my new healthy life style.  For instance my 2 year old would only sit and read a book for about 10-15 minutes but now he will quite happily sit and read for as long as it takes.  He has more of an attention span, and I have noticed he is trying to put long sentences together. A number of people have remarked on how well he seems to be doing already. Its so reassuring, it just re-enforces the fact that I am doing the best for my family.

My skin is getting even better by the day too; it’s not so red and blotchy.

I will admit that I have been tired these past few weeks, I have been having very late nights and up most of them due to my 16 week old waking through the night still. I have not been doing as much exercise as I wanted to get in because 1) I am just so tired & 2) I have been sleeping through my alarm clock and so not had the time!

My weight has stayed the same for god knows how long, and to be honest it’s starting to make me feel so up-set. But saying that it could be down to the fact that I have not been eating enough, and when I did have something to eat it was the wrong stuff. i.e. I had not been eating my 3 main meals a day but when I did have something to snack on it would be something like a sandwich, but I was too scared to eat too much in case I put on weight. My Dr told me off straight away, he said that my body probably has gone into starvation mode, as I had not been eating enough to keep my metabolism going.  So I have been good and stuck to my eating plan, and have been eating all the right kinds of foods.

I have even been coming up with my own delicious recipes, and copying some of my very good friends ideas.. for instance I have stuffed my self with the following salad, it sounds strange but its soooo moorish!I usually have this for lunch, the measurements are just estimates, I increase / decrease the ingredients as I go…. 

Add a little olive oil to a bowl add….
1 chopped avocado
½ large chopped Orange
A hand full of Cherry tomatoes or chopped large tomatoes
Chopped ½ a capscum (bell) pepper (which ever colour you have available)
Chopped ¼ of cucumber
Ground black pepper & sea salt (I try not to add salt, but sometimes if I get the urge I add a little)

Mix it all up, and eat! The orange really gives it that extra bit. I of course blame (and thank) my very good friend for giving me this recipe.  

Another friend of mine was thinking of doing one of these diets where you just have a shake 3 times a day, and I know from personal experience that they are great but for me, as soon as I started to eat foods again, after a short time the weight found its way back on.. so now he is going to be trying the smoothies and soups 3 times a day and so far he has lost ½ stone (7lbs) in 1 week… I am so pleased for him, although I did not realise he felt he needed to lose weight.

So I have thought I might do the same for a short period, just to try and get me going again.  I already have a smoothie for breakfast any way so another 2 a day won’t hurt! My favourite at the moment is… Soya milk & 2 frozen bananas just whizzed up, its lovely and when I feel a little hungrier or feel a little more adventurous I add dried cranberries & a hand full of macadamia nuts. My son loves it. To me it tastes a little like a banana milkshake you get from a fast food place, but is a lot better for me!

I am starting to get more adventurous with my cooking, and although it’s not always a success I am getting better at it. I have now mastered the sweet bean curry, my son loves this one as it is mild, but when it’s just myself and my husband I can make it a bit more spicy.

With regards to my exercise I desperately want to pick things up.. At the moment all I am really doing is a few sit ups, and jigging / fidgeting at my desk. ½ the time it looks like I need the loo, or I have had a bit too much caffeine but it’s not that, I am just trying to use up a few calories whilst I sit at my desk.