Day 7 (summary of week 1)

Well, here I am already at the end of my first week in My Year of Living Well (MYOLW - could there be a more unpronounceable acronym?)

Anyhoo, here's what I've learnt so far.

1. The I've-given-up-sugar-after-an-extended-period-of-total-dependancy headache doesn't last forever. (But it does last quite long enough, thanks very much.)
2. Green smoothies completely rock. Once you get the hang of them. 
3. There is such a thing as a vegetable called Wombuk.  When you are wandering around the fruit and vege shop in the grips of post-sugar withdrawal you may find this fact hands-down the funniest thing you've ever heard in your entire life. 
4.  The cashier at the fruit and vege shop may not find the idea of Wombuk even remotely amusing and this could prove awkward.
5.  Salad is my friend.
6.  It is quite possible to serve your family homemade pizza while you eat a bok choy, asparagus, spinach and chicken stir fry. No one will even notice and bizarely the pizza will not look even vaguely attractive. 
7. Food and mental health are linked in so many ways that a mathematical dyslexic like myself could have trouble putting an exact number on it. So I'll go for a ball park figure then, you know, like a billion. 
8. Some journeys feel like the right thing even from the very first steps. This is one of those. 
9. A handful of seeds and nuts at the right time of day can make life feel possible again. And help you channel your inner rosella. 
10. Dandelion root tea does taste a little like you've poured boiling water over a dirty gardening trowel. But my liver likes it so I'm taking that one for the team. 

Thanks for reading. 

Love,
Indigo Kate x

Day 6

I tidied the pantry today. I threw things out, I rearranged, I wiped benches and shelves, and I combined half-empty packets into neat, labelled containers.  The end result is marvellous and it will help with healthy choices. I had a writing project to do today, the deadline is looming and I am behind with it. So tidying the pantry was the logical thing to do in the strange dance that happens sometimes in getting to the desk. I created clarity on the shelves in the absence of any on the page. It's a start.

Each day feels easier. Mentally, I feel great, energetic even.  Hopeful and generally up.

Broccoli salad for dinner.  Look at me go!

Must go and tackle this writing project. Just let me clean this window on my way to the desk...

Love
Indigo Kate x

Day 5

Two good things happened today.

The first was a session with a health professional, talking all things health. Sleep, diet, hormones, consistency, protein and green smoothies were all on the table. It was unhurried and helpful and pitched exactly where I'm at now, not where I should be at or where I used to be at. There was a gentle acceptance that health plans are sometimes derailed by that freight train called life and how best to get it back on the tracks.  I came away feeling informed and inspired and realistic about my Year of Living Well plans. I have another appointment for just before Christmas so we can see how it is all unfolding.  It's nice to have a companion on the journey, especially one that's a million times smarter about all this stuff than me.

The second thing I did was eat the most sensational salad for lunch. Salad and I usually keep a polite distance, just the occasional nod before moving on to talk to someone more interesting on the menu. Someone with a bit of substance.  But today, I walked into a little salad bar in town open to possibilities. I chose a base of baby spinach, then got to add seven (seven!) other bits and pieces. Hello avocado, grilled eggplant, roast pumpkin, chick peas, seeds, cucumber and something else fabulous.  Throw some smoked salmon on top and Salad and I were suddenly on first name terms and exchanging numbers.

My first 5 days are done and I'm curiously optimistic about the remaining 360. With some professional support and my new mate Salad, I reckon there's good things ahead.

Love
Indigo Kate x

Day 4

Even after 4 days I feel calmer. Maybe the sugar is working its way out of my system. Or maybe all the green leafy vegies are working their magic. But I feel more considered and in control. I'm getting the hang of making each choice a healthy choice. Early days, I know. 

The warm water with a squeeze of (home grown) lemon is a great way to move into the day. It slows me down and reminds me about my health. I never drink enough water, and golly, some of my most memorable headaches have been dehydration ones. So to get two big glasses in before I've done anything else makes me feel like a total hydration rock star.  

An excellent green smoothie (baby spinach, celery, apple, pear, strawberry) and a cup of dandelion root tea and I was ready for the final day of my solo parenting gig. Dandelion root is apparently excellent for liver care. My liver and I need to be better friends so I'm giving it a whirl.  My liver has a big job to do as it no longer has a gall bladder to help it out. Long, sad story. The gallbladder is Robin to the livers Batman, if you will. From what I can work out our liver is the biggest organ in the body and has a mighty job to do in terms of filtering. It would seem the cleaner I eat, the less work it has to do.  Who knows, with a new work-life balance my liver might like to write a novel or learn a language. The possibilities are endless. 

There was some processed sugar circulating today in the name of Melbourne Cup festivities. My liver and I abstained. Dandelion root tea, anyone? 

Love

Indigo Kate x

Day 3

There was an awkward moment this morning. In my enthusiasm I had thrown a few too many random healthy green things together for my smoothie. Rocket! Parsley! Celery! Banana! The result was deep sea green and slimy. It smelt like freshly mowed lawn. Four little people looked at it dubiously and said, 'Are you really going to drink that, Mum?'

It would have been awfully easy at that point to tip it down the sink. To throw some raisin toast in the toaster and be done with it. I mean two days of healthy living is a red hot go, right?

'I think it needs some ginger,' I said to my bemused little friends. I threw in a thumb-size chunk of ginger and whizzed it around. Then I poured it into my glass and drank it before I had time to rethink it. It was great, in a mowed-lawn kinda way.  My children were most impressed. And as I downed my second glass, so was I.

Note to self: random items do not a fabulous green smoothie make. Compatablitlity of ingredients is key. Oh, and go easy on the rocket.

Love
Indigo Kate x

Day 2

Yes, I realise with a title like that I'm not winning any creativity awards. But it was a good Day 2 none the less.

My first objective in my quest for health is to kick processed sugar.  It's over between us.  Some people can have it every now and then without issue. I am just not one of those people. I crave it, I eat too much of it, then I crave it even more. It gives me a headache, it makes me jittery, it does diabolical things to my body shape.  My love/hate sugar relationship is endlessly exhausting.  So I have pulled up my big girl undies and begun my cold turkey withdrawal. It's the only way forward.

So far so good. A dull headache but I am coping admirably. My husband is away on an annual mountain bike trip so I am combining sugar withdrawal with solo parenting four small people. Why not try two tricky things at once, I say.  But we are having long slow Lego days. There is time to rest and breathe and catch our breath in this crazy-busy term. It's been heartening to see them so happy in each other's company.

My green smoothie this morning was an absolute cracker. Spinach, celery, apple, pear and coconut water. So for this first month or so my plan is to kick sugar and take up green smoothies. They say the best way to kick a habit is to replace it with another (preferably better) habit. So it's out with the chocolate and hello drinkable spinach.  Lookout Popeye, here I come.

Love
Indigo Kate x

Coo-eee (Day 1)

And I'm back.  Hello there.

Today, November 1st, 2014, marks a new beginning for me. I have started a personal 365 day project called My Year Of Living Well. A whole year where I mindfully focus on my mental and physical health.

Sadly this will not be beamed to you from a fancy-pants Health Retreat where I schedule my massage by the waterfall somewhere between my meditation class and my yoga instruction.  No, this is happening at a scary place called Real Life. Home. With my four children, my shaggy dog, my overflowing laundry and my sticky kitchen bench. I think there is also a husband in there somewhere. And some writing stuff known romantically as work.

I want to see  happens when I shift my focus to my health. Not for a week or a month but for a whole year. I'm sick of skidding into bed after another day at break-neck pace during which I somehow forgot to eat well and exercise, despite ensuring the five other members of my family all did.  I don't want my health to be a tiny foot note to my life. I want it to be a bold heading in large font with a capital H.

Like most adventures, I'm hoping this one will become clearer as I leave the shore. My day began with a glass of warm water with a squeeze of lemon. Then another. I took a deep breath and realised I had begun. I turned away from the shore and looked out towards the horizon, with all its unknowns and drank my first ever green smoothie (baby spinach, apple, carrot, pineapple). It was, despite the slightly weird colour and grainy texture, fabulous.  Cheers, I said to myself. Here's to My Year Of Living Well.

I'd love to share it with you.

Love,

Indigo Kate x