Breaking the fast

Today I am breaking the fast and have 1-2 days of whole, unprocessed foods before starting the Wellness cleanse either tomorrow or Friday (depending on a few work commitments today and whether I am able to get the veges and things sorted in time).

Last night I started to feel very hungy and empty and was craving nuts and salty foods.  So this morning to 'break my fast', I have feasted on these plates of deliciousness....

Fresh fruit salad made by a colleague and a bowl of macadamias / almonds / cashews / raisins and a little bit of crumbly tasty organic cheese.  I know the cheese is not strictly 'unprocessed' but it is a high quality one made on a farm up in the hinterland, so a wee bit found its way in there :-)

Today I am again in the office, although think I will leave at lunchtime and go home and try to get our cupboards sorted for the next part of this journey!  Again - so grateful for the flexibility that this work/life balance offers.

Its now 2pm and I feel REALLLLY shitty.  Irritable, pissed off at everything, and snappy.  Just had a moment of clarity that this is one of the side effects to this cleanse/detox, and even though it hasnt really started, I've still not eaten anything processed or 'crap' for 3 days now so perhaps this IS one 'cleanout' aspect.

I also havent had any water today or fluids of any kind, which of course is also contributing to this mental state.

Off to have a big hydrating drink of water and have a little 'ME' time for the next 30 mins or so while Karl is busy and the house is quiet....

7pm and Im feeling heaps better.  We went out this afternoon and stocked up our fridge for the next 4 days of cleansing.  Karl is determined we do the full 10 day cleanse so while he is amped, Im going with that.  Our fridge is chocka with fresh green leafy veges and some fruits, and tomorrow we start the cleanse.  Its pretty much just juicing and smoothies with a little salad in there if we want.  Will post more details about that tomorrow.

Evening post - Day 2

I've spent the evening in the company of a super cool, strong empowered woman.  Although at present I dont know if she see's herself like this.  So this post is partly about her and partly about how we see ourselves, compared to how the world sees us.

This chick is one of those girls that really has her shit together.  Sh'es an awesome mum to 2 gorgeous happy small beauties.  She's intelligent, funny, great to have around, is well travelled and has a wide circle of friends that love her.  Her house always looks clean and sorted, her cat is always fed (except when she spends too much time at our place).....   She has great style and her skin always looks great.  

Im sure you know someone like her.

However at present she's going through a challenging time and is in the 'Waiting Place'.....

That 'in-between' time in life when one door is closing and the next is just not quite open.    That challenging, sometimes painful, endings and beginnings time.

As someone who's been in that Waiting Place rather a few times before, its interesting to watch and try to support her as best I can, and its also interesting to feel super excited for the next phase that she's on the verge of.  

Its also interesting to talk to her and hear her doubts about herself and see how she views herself in this moment.  Its poles apart from how I see her, and the gulf between our viewpoints on things are huge.

Everything that happens in our life helps us to grow and change and experience and learn the lessons we are destined for in this life.  

I cant wait to see what she becomes....  because its gonna be incredible.

Tonight Im feel really inspired and ready for this next part of the journey.  I've read the Wellness Warrior cleanse from start to finish and while there are some things in her "Live Well Starter programme'' that Im not going to partake in (Coffee Enemas....) for the most part, Im doing it.

Its a 10 day programme, however also encourages you to undertake as many days as you are capable of, knowing that every day your willpower holds, the cleaner and healthier you will be.  This cleanse strips away the accumulated crap and provides a blank canvas for you to begin your new healthy lifestyle...

I am aiming for 5 days minimum.

Tomorrow is about preparing our house and stocking up on the vegetables and groceries needed.  I will be consuming mostly fresh juices (mainly vegetable), a few smoothies, salads and as much water and herbal teas as desired.

The thing I love most about this starter programme is that it incorporates not only detoxification and nourishment, but also focusses on daily meditation, self care (taking time out to indulge yourself daily), exercise and sleep.  

I am not concerned at all with weight, so havent weighed myself yet and dont plan to.  Finally its not about weight and that number on the scales.  In fact, weight loss will be a hugely welcome side effect.  The main focus for me is to continue with this buzzing, centred, clean, energised AMAZING feeling I have already.

Fasting. Day 2.

Another 'work' day for me, and the 2nd day of fasting.

On Tuesdays I am based at my bosses place and just wanted to share the 'office' view with you...

There are worse places to be.....  and I love working with him and I love that this couple are so connected and positive!

The day yesterday went well - it was a busy day of work and then kids sports in the evening, so didnt home till about 8pm and didnt feel hungry.

The green tea yesterday was great and am doing this again today.

My mind feels very clear and my body feels calm.  So much of this fasting is a mental shift and in the past the 2nd and 3rd days have been really challenging for me, however today seems fine so far, so am just being concious, present and taking each moment as it rises.

Through work I received The Wellness Warrior's book 'Make Peace with Your Plate' yesterday - its an e-book and comes as a PDF download.  I am absolutely loving it and throughout the book there are tips which I plan to integrate into my life (once food makes an appearance again, of course!).  Here's the first one that I will begin with.  I am going to add one new 'habit' like this per week

Today our eldest daughter has gone on camp - one of the courses she takes here in her final year of school is 'Marine & Aquatic practices' so as part of the curriculum, and counting towards 25% of her final grade, she has gone on a camp on a river down in the Gold Coast area where she will stay on a houseboat for 4 nights and do all things sailing, fishing, camping, etc.  Gotta love Australia and their outdoorsy focus!  She is super excited and we sent her off this morning with lots of love and fun filled vibes.

Have just spent (even more) time looking around the Wellness Warrior site - Im so addicted to this chick!   She has a 10 day detox/cleanse starter programme that I have just downloaded and look to use for the first 10 days of this food journey.   The image below is a link if you wanna check it out too.

It is now 3pm and I have just had my first chiropractic adjustment in about 2 months, and as always, I wonder why I dont keep up my regular care.  I feel alot more balanced and centred after this, however also felt a little lightheaded immediately after care, so have eaten a handful of organic almonds from the back office and now feel amazing.

I am really looking forward to having a good read of the starter kit and 10 day cleanse information tonight and looking at beginning this on Thursday.  It looks to be alot of juicing which I love.

Today I feel super grateful for living in a gorgeous climate and having such a beautiful bunch of work colleagues who are true role models for me in how I am going to be living.  These guys really do 'walk their talk' which is really empowering to be around.

The first day

Fasting.  Day 1.

Today I am just taking in water and this gorgeous green tea (above).  This is a really lovely tea which comes as a closed little bulb.  Just pop it in a glass and add water and it flowers within 2 minutes, then just keep topping up the hot water throughout the day.  I get about 8 refills from this one bulb and it is really good.   Im totally savouring it and trying to train my brain to see it as a real indulgence.

Its 2.45pm as I post this and so far I dont feel hungry.  Possibly due to the huge amount of food I ate yesterday.  I do feel a bit jaded and have the inklings of a headache, so after hitting publish on this post I am going to go and get adjusted (one of the benefits of working in the chiropractic world - regular adjustments 'on tap')

Today is a 'work day' for me, which basically means I go into an office and work at my 'other' job, rather than on our own business.  My partner works full time in our business, and I am currently transitioning between my full time job and working for ourselves full time too.  I do 3 days per week in the office in my chiropractic world job (Im not a chiropractor - I work as a PA for one of the most successful chiro's in Australia), and the rest of the time is spent working for myself.

I am super grateful to have this flexibility, and even in my chiropractic job, it is really up to me as to when I work.  I generally do about 25-30 hours per week on this, and try to do as many of these in the office as I can.  I am so easily sidetracked (you can tell by the way this post started off about Green Tea and now Im chattering on about work hours!), so trying to 'work from home' didnt really work out as productively as it could have (Hello Facebook.  Didnt see you there.  3 hours later.....!!), so now I make myself get up and go in to work.

I want this blog to be a great resource for me (and others if they choose) on all of the amazing sites and people and resources and products and everything else that comes into my world, so today I have spent time on the Wellness Warrior website.

If you havent heard of her, Jess Ainscough is an amazing energised gorgeous woman who cured herself of cancer completely naturally just over 5 years ago.  She lives here on the Sunshine Coast and I cant think of someone I'd rather strive to be like.  Her website is chocka full of natural health tips as well as motivational and inspirational stuff, so head over and spend some time with her.  Definitely check out the 'About Jess' section under the ABOUT tab which tells her story.  Inspirational stuff.  Click on the picture above to go straight there now.

I am super grateful today to have so many amazing people in my world who keep me centred and are full of health and wellness resources.

Festival day

Its 7.25pm on Sunday night and I've been up since 4.30am with a very broken sleep of about 4 hours in total.

We had a very successful day financially, and met loads of great new customers.  I also ate a plate of battered deep fried mussels and a few pieces of ginger crunch, and the only nourishing thing I managed to put into my body today was 2 mandarins and rather a lot of water.

I feel average, at best.  Been hit by a truck is more like it.  Luckily my man is a whizz in the kitchen (he worked as a chef for 10 years) and so is currently whipping up a gourmet feast for the kids dinner..... of cheese and onion toasties :-)      I am so grateful for his ability in the kitchen!

I dont feel healthful, I dont feel energised and I dont feel particularly happy in this moment.

I know this is largely due to not getting enough sleep last night, but is also made up in a big part by what I have chosen to put into my body today.

I've been thinking loads and loads about this new journey and Im bloody excited.

Karl is going to join me on my fast, and as our eldest daughter is going to be away on camp we only have the 14 year old to organise meals for.  She can sort herself out pretty well, so it may be a very different week in our home.  And very cheap, with our grocery bill being very low!

I am about to show myself some love and am waiting for a deep spa bath to fill which I have added some Himalayan rock salt chunks to in order to help ease my body back to relaxation, and also have my favourite candle burning - Glasshouse Mountain Coconut & Lime scent    If you've never experienced the intense and gorgeous aroma these candles give off, see if you can get hold of one.  They are divine! And on top of that, the packaging is beautiful too, and I do like anything that is super-well-presented :-)

I look forward to the adventure that tomorrow will bring and I am open to the universe and its lessons that are coming my way.

Signing off with much gratitude for my centred feeling, amongst this lethargy....

xo

In the beginning.....

So here I am at the end of my previous life and sort of 'in limbo' while I wait and read and research and prepare and learn about my new life that starts on Monday.

I know.  I know.

"Just start now" they'll say.....

"Diets always start on Monday and Monday never comes" they cry.....

But you know what?

This isn't a diet.  This is it.  Its nothing.  It just is what is.

No more beating myself up when I slip off the wagon and 'cheat' with things like weight watchers points, sneaky takeaways, or entire packets of biscuits consumed in one sitting.  Come on.  You know you've done that.  Or maybe you havent and you dont have a weight issue.  But I do, and I have done exactly that.

The reason there will be no more beating myself up, is that there is no longer any 'wagon' to fall off.

From here on it will be an observation of how each day goes and making each day that little bit better and happier and calmer and HEALTHIER than the last.  No more counting points.  No more 500 calories every day for 21 days while taking homeopathic drops (although I DO still hold the HCG protocol in a high place - its just too intense for me right now).

It is now Saturday night and we have spent the day getting sorted for a big festival that we are attending tomorrow.  My partner Karl and I own a business that makes kiwiana home decor and he is also a stone carver.  We live on the Sunshine Coast and there is a big kiwi festival tomorrow.  So tomorrow I will be up at 4.30am and on the road by 5am to do our 'market stall holder' thing for the day.  Its a bloody long day, and I will be surrounded by the most gorgeous kiwi food and drink stalls, and.... and.... and.....  it feels too much to start this next phase tomorrow.  Perhaps thats an excuse, but thats that.

So.........

The first thing I am going to do is a few days of 'fasting'.  I have spoken to many people about this and researched alot, and it is something I want to do for myself.  Monday and Tuesday will be fasting days - and depending on how Im feeling, possibly a few more days, with just lots of water and herbal tea if I wish.  I have fasted alot in the past, sometimes for up to a week at a time (back in the days when I used to be much more 'hippy' - and I dont mean that in the 'big hips' sense) :-)

One of the best experiences of my life was a week-long Tribal Spirit Drumming camp in Galway, Ireland.  The main focus of the camp was african drumming, with yoga and meditation sessions every morning and evening if you chose to take part, and there was a group doing a fast.  To say I felt amazing at the end of the week is the biggest understatement ever.  To say I felt hideous for the first few days is also an understatement.  But I KNOW this is something I want to do on a very deep level so bear with me during these first few days.

After this cleansing time, the basis of my first week eating will be be cutting out all wheat, bread, potatoes and rice.  I dont feel that this should be too challenging for me as I dont eat alot of it anyway but we shall see.

Another thing I 'know' is that my body needs to have a low carb/paleo style of nourishment, so this is where Im heading.

I feel compelled to make a list of goals that I want to achieve for myself this year, so here we go...

• Practice yoga 2-3 times per week
• Complete the IronMaori beginners triathlon on the Gold Coast on June 22nd 2013
• Re-commence regular chiropractic care twice weekly 
• Have one month alcohol-free (September)
• Re-commence african drumming at least twice per month and find a weekend/week long retreat
• Weight goal of being in the 70's 
• 15,000 facebook followers on our business page
• Join an indoor netball team and play at least once per week
• Explore the Noosa national park area and its great walking/running tracks
• Run 3km at least once per week

There are more.  Many more.  But thats a first draft 'brain dump'.

Right.  Im off to try to 'pretty up' this blog template.  I'd love you to say hi if you are joining me for the journey, but as a blog stalker myself for many years, I'll understand if you stay in the shadows.  All I would ask is that you come to this blog with an open mind and heart, and if you feel the need to post a comment that you think may offend someone (either myself or another reader), employ the 'think twice/dont post' rule of thumb and keep your own counsel.

Otherwise, its bloody amazing to have you along for the ride, and what a ride its gonna be.

Changes are afoot.....  I can feel em!

Much love

Jo