Booze-Free October

Remember that 30-day booze free challenge that Hub and I did? Well we completed it (yeah!) and I never got around to writing that follow-up post until NOW. 

Not drinking for an entire month was surprisingly less challenging than I initially thought. Once we got passed the hump, which for us was about two weeks in, we were at ease with the idea of not drinking. We really enjoyed the absence of our beloved wine, especially at the weekends, because we always woke up feeling bright-eyed and bushy tailed. We didn't notice any grand physical changes, as you can see from my not-so-exciting before and after pics, but we did feel the positive affects on our mental clarity, energy and sleep. 

We are not heavy drinkers, but we habitually knock back wine at the weekends and of course there's the occasional mid-week social gathering. A few glasses of wine doesn't feel like a lot, but I am genuinely surprised at how much that affects my mood. We loved waking up every Saturday with energy and without the mild grogginess, which on reflection is a mild hangover. We also slept much better throughout the night, a bit more soundly I guess. Although alcohol is wonderful at putting us to sleep, it disrupts later sleep stages in the night. In fact it's 4am right now and I'm battling insomnia because I had one too many red wines last night. Oops.  

Social gatherings were a bit awkward because you're battling temptation, but after awhile we got used to it. We felt great coming away from an event without the slightest urge to break our booze cleanse. Being in total control of choosing not to drink felt in some way like a small accomplishment and we realized that we don't need to drink to be social. With social drinking being the norm, it's so easy to forget that it's a choice. Often I'll find myself at Hub's events drinking because it's there, instead of drinking for the pure enjoyment of a good pinot. Do you ever feel that way? 

By the end of October I also noticed improvements with brain fog. Sometimes I'll walk into a room to grab something and then immediately forget what I'm looking for when I get there. Does this ever happen to you? Or sometimes I'll get distracted by something else and start a new task, forgetting the other. This is brain fog. There are lots of things that contribute to impaired brain function, like B-12 deficiency, but I find that any improvements in my diet clear out the fog and this includes booze. Although one glass of wine may be beneficial to improving brain fog, overdoing it will magnify the fogginess. My tendency towards forgetfulness got better in October and I found my memory was stronger. 

Oct 2

Oct 27

So would we recommend a booze-free month? Hells yeah and I'm looking forward to doing it again, probably after my birthday in January. We came away from this experience feeling strong and confident once we set our intention and focus. Now if only I can apply this to giving up sweets...

30 Days Booze-Free Challenge

That's right folks! Hub and I are going alcohol-free for 30-days and then some. Our end date is all hallows eve, when we welcome one of our favorite couples to Rio Dana & Joel.

Hub and I went to the London and Sardinia for a few weeks and it was fucking fabulous, but boy did we indulge! The week leading up to our holiday I was super stressed with work and I found myself craving a big glass of red to wind down. No biggie I know, but it was out of routine for me and I was using the wine to drown the stresses of the day and I don't think that's so healthy. 

We went back to Sardinia to celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary and we drank a lot of Sardinian wines! At home we hold back and so it was nice to let go on holiday and have a tipple whenever our little hearts desired. Local brut was a lunch staple, rosé in the afternoon and Cannonau at dinner.

Initially my plan was to stick to my healthy eating plan. How hard could it be especially with all the wonderful fresh seafood and good Italian veg? That quickly went out the window the moment someone mentioned GELATO. Um, yes please! From there gelato time was a daily occurrence and I went on a mission to find the best yogurt/pistachio combo. I decided stressing about eating healthy on vaca was dumb and I was going indulge a little. 

Back in London the drinking festivities carried on as I caught up with my friends. By day 13 I could feel my liver asking for a break and after one champagne heavy afternoon with my buddies from my old job, I decided to go cold turkey for awhile. I also noticed I packed on quite a few pounds in two weeks, 5 kgs to be exact and now my mid-section looked marshmallow-y. So I actually stopped drinking on the 27th September and plan on going until 31st of this month. I've taken some rather unpleasant before photos of Hub and I for your viewing pleasure and maybe we'll see some transformations!

Body-comp selfie start of trip in Italy

Body-comp selfie end of trip London

Web Motivation

Yesterday Hub sent me this inspiring article about October being the month to go sober or Stopober, which I totally didn't know. In London this Ben Greenfield podcast came into my feed about one man's transformation when he quit drinking, which was pretty pos. It then lead me to this blogpost on a 30 Days No Alcohol Experiment and it pushed me to just do it. 

Detoxin' Update

It's been tough and I haven't been perfect. There have been a few days where I veered off a little from the alkalizing cleanse and had a bit of wheat and chocolate. However, I haven't dipped my toe in either coffee or alcohol and I'm proud of that. 

I've noticed a few changes since starting the cleanse, both good and bad. I've had such great sleep, really heavy. I've always slept well, but I'm a light sleeper and nowadays I'm dead to the world. A few days ago I noticed my digestion was improving and I was "going" more consistently, which is fabulous and really important with cleansing. I also noticed tiny bumps on my chest and back and according to this website, this type of acne can be related to your digestion. So perhaps this detox is really cleansing my digestive organs and the result is a little acne. Not bad!

When I started the cleanse my eczema was already flaring, but then it got worse. I wondered if this could be related to the detox? My cousin, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, recommended I see her holistic doctor Dr. Salzarulo and he made this video about eczema. He explains that eczema is the result of the body detoxing through the skin and I found that reassuring to hear. I'm going to see Dr. Salzarulo in a few weeks when I'm NYC and I'm very excited. 

So there you have it and I'll do another post when I've finished. Only 12 more days to go!

L

Gettin' Over the Hump: Detoxin'

I'm going to detox for exactly 4 weeks, so there! I've put it out into the world wide web and I can't take it back...or I'll look like such a dumb ass.

Since January I've been saying this to Hub repeatedly and every time he rolls his eyes at me because I fail miserably. The booze has been most difficult to curb, but lately I haven't been making the most healthful choices either. Work too has been hard and stressful for Hub and I and in turn we've been drinking a lot more in an effort to wind down in the evenings. I'm also having a terrible flare up with my eczema, which is a sign of internal inflammation and I feel inflamed. So it's time. 

Have you ever done a detox? I think taking a clean break and rebooting your God pod is fabulous and here's why:

Our livers are responsible for the majority of day-to-day detoxification, but if our livers are overwhelmed with toxins the body stores them as fat!

So here are 10 signs that your liver is in need of a thorough detox.

Weight loss and new found energy are just some of the many physical benefits of detoxing, but there are also deeper mental and spiritual changes that can come about too.

Sometimes a cleansing detox can feel like a burden, but I'm looking forward to increasing the good stuff and coming up with some recipes that include these 10 cleansing foods.

Last year I detoxed with Kris Carr and I felt great after 3 weeks of eating a whole foods plant-based alkalizing diet and taking a breather from the booze. So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm very excited and I'll keep you posted on my progress.

L

Hidden Food Sensitivities?

potential allergens: wheat, gluten, yeast, eggs

Did you know that you could have a hidden food sensitivity and not know it? You could be consuming the food on a daily basis and it's silently causing damage to your insides without obvious signals. The adverse reaction can be so subtle and so gradual you don't realize it's happening or that it's linked to your favorite snack. Sometimes it takes a general elimination diet to discover a food sensitivity or intolerance, which I think I've discovered whilst on the Kris Carr Cleansing Detox. Here's what happened.

So the first few days were hard; however, after the first week I felt great. I loved waking up everyday with lots of energy and noticeable brain clarity, which was due to good food but also the absence of alcohol. However, towards the end a few things happened that really surprised me...

potential allergens: wheat, gluten, dairy, yeast, tomatoes, peppers

About 2 and half weeks in I started to crave seafood, especially salmon. I missed my fish and shrimp dinners and it was a challenge to come up with vegan alternatives. Hub was not detoxing with me but he eats what I make and will not settle for beans and brown rice. I had to create meals that would satisfy his palette (mine too) and man stomach. Beans were helpful and I loved my spicy black bean burgers, but it's hard to get creative every night. So I relied heavily on nuts for protein and I ended up lowering my daily intake of protein. I felt like my body was sending me signals and it felt important to listen to my body. So I caved and ate a bit of fish and shrimp.

potential allergens: gluten (gravy), dairy (butter in mash)

I also mistakenly ate a bunch of other food groups the same week and BOOM! I broke out in an eczema rash on my elbows, armpits and lips. I also noticed a dull pain in my knuckles and I broke out on my back shoulders. I haven't had back acne since I was 16! I suspect that something I ate was causing this reaction because I hadn't changed anything in my routine except my diet. And this is why all detox diets tell you to reintroduce one food group at a time in order to monitor any adverse reactions.

potential allergens: nightshade vegetables

This detox was far more challenging then the Dr. Joshi cleanse, but it was so rewarding and I feel like I've discovered something in the process. Check out Kris Carr's website and books for info and if you suffer from any of these chronic symptoms, you might want to see if you have a hidden food allergy. I've been in touch with an American allergist and a Brazilian nutritionist who have both advise that I continue with the elimination diet, but this time reintroduce the foods properly so that I might have a better idea of what I'm reacting to. I'm currently mustering up the energy to go on the cleanse again, but my fear is that it might be peanuts or tree nuts, mangoes, citrus fruits or shellfish. 

potential allergens: shellfish, citrus fruits, tomatoes

Interesting reads for this post:  

Dr. Mark Hyman's elimination diet plan featured on Dr. Oz

The DL on elimination diets and the different kinds

I'm know I'm a big fan of self-medicating and speculating, but here's how to diagnose a food allergy properly.

Detoxin' with Kris Carr

 

Following my New Year's resolution to be a holistic goddess, I've decided to kick start the year with Kris Carr's 21-Day Adventure Cleanse. For the next three weeks I will try to reduce the acidity of my insides (and release the toxins) by avoiding alcohol, wheat/gluten, sugar and high GI fruits, all meat products including seafood and dairy, and lastly giving up my morning cup of Joe. 

I am in awe of Kris Carr. Ever since I started reading about her story and how she lives life with stage IV cancer in her lungs and liver, I felt inspired. This is a woman who has now been living with incurable and inoperable cancer for over 10 years and looks fresh as a daisy. After seeing her film I felt like I wanted to be vegan, I wanted my immune system to be strong! I asked for her book Crazy Sexy Diet for Christmas and inhaled it like crispy french fries with ketchup. It's filled with great info about nutrition and explains in funny layman terms how food behaves once inside our bodies.

This idea behind the Crazy Sexy Lifestyle begins with the understanding of alkalinity versus acidity, the pH scale. Our body is designed to be slightly alkaline and our body operates at it's best when the blood pH is 7.365. In fact our body will do whatever it can to stay there, but things like environment, stress, and diet can cause acidity in our bodies leading to disease and illness.

"We control the destiny of our health.
We control the quality of our health."

-excerpt from Crazy Sexy Cancer

I was particularly drawn to this detox because it is a wholefoods, low fat, vegan diet and I've been fascinated by nutritional studies, like that of T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Neal Barnard, that show this kind of lifestyle can reverse diabetes, heart disease and help prevent cancer. I've never eaten this way before and I want to see if I can do it. Even for three weeks, can I hone in on the good and leave out the bad?

I'm also trying to understand my prediabetes and diabetes in general. Most of the info out there links diabetes to obesity, but what about people who are not obese? I recognize bad choices I've made in the past, but I also still feel very confused as to why I have prediabetes. I mean am I skinny fat? Do I have reactive hypoglycemia? I hope to share with you how it's going, some recipes, and intriguing facts.  

Some interesting reads for this post:
Detox is a two step process: awakening and releasing the toxins

The truth behind detox symptoms

Homemade & Healthy - Fruit & Veg Shakes

Every now again, I get drawn into these detox diets that I read about online or in a magazine, usually after a week of indulging on delicious and not so great for me food. And although I lack the mental strength to complete a raw food plan or a juice cleanse, I do discover new food combos that are good for me.

So this week I was inspired by the raw food cleanse and was making fresh shakes for breakfast. I don't have a juicer, so I had to make do with my blender. My biggest concern was that the extra bits that usually get separated in a juicer would interfere with the quality of my shakes, but to my surprise and relief it wasn't an issue.

First, I really wanted to create a spinach shake and I mixed:

300 ml basic apple juice
1 peeled whole orange
1 handful of fresh spinach (about a cup)

This was delicious and the orange bits added texture, which I like but you can strain it out. For my second shake, I wanted to mix pomegranate with spinach, but my instincts told me no. So I blended:

One whole pomegranate (manually extracted all the seeds)
300 ml basic apple juice
1 large chunk of fresh ginger roughly chopped

This was really refreshing and luckily, the blitz pits of the pomegranate sank to the bottom so didn't mess up my shake. The sweetness of the ready made apple juice balanced out the bitterness of the pomegranate and the strong ginger.

In my research, I also discovered these shakes that I'd like to try next.

Vegan Chocolate Shake

Spinach Banana Shake (odd I know, but I love to try experimental food)