Pear & Greens Smoothie

This morning’s breakfast

Pear & Greens Smoothie (makes 2 serves)

In a high-powered blender, blend together

- 3 generous handfuls kale or spinach leaves

- 1/2 a small bunch flat-leaf parsley

- 2 ripe pears, cored

- 1  cup almond milk

Enjoy!

Adapted from this recipe from the Food Coach

Fruit & Veg Friday

We were using a really good organic fruit and veg delivery company at the start of the year, but the business isn’t operating at the moment as the owner is overseas. We’ve tried a few other places but haven’t really been happy with what we’ve been getting.

On Wednesday I tried somewhere new, Organic Origins. Since I’ve been having a lot of smoothies lately, I was quite happy to see they had a Green Smoothie Box. I was a bit late putting in my order, so just opted to get an OMG! Quick Box to cover the rest of our fruit and veg needs, instead of choosing items myself.

Today (Friday) our order arrived. First up, it came in a refrigerated van, which will be great for keeping things fresh in summer. I was happy to see it was in two separate boxes, so I could see what each type of box contained. When I opened the boxes I was quite impressed to see a green biodegradable bin liner in each box. Since the boxes are collected and reused each week, it’s nice to have a liner  - and we’ll be able to reuse the liners in our rubbish bin. 

Here’s the contents of the boxes (the white bags are biodegradable and compostable).

Green Smoothie Box (starting on the left at the back): celery, juicing apples, kale, juicing carrots, zucchini, parsley, rocket, baby spinach, grapefruit, oranges, ginger, lemon and beetroot

 

OMG! Quick Box (starting on the left at the back): celery, leek,  apples, salad mix, bananas, oranges, snow peas, red potatoes, broccoli, pears, grapefruit, lemons, sugar snap peas, carrots, zucchini and mandarins

So yes, that’s two bunches of celery, plus the half-bunch we already had in the fridge.  Celery ideas, anyone?

Co Yo

When we were on holiday in Queensland a few weeks ago, we were in a health-food store looking for gluten-free bread that didn’t have any dairy products in it. We got chatting to someone else in the store who was also on holiday, and she was looking for Co Yo (dairy-free coconut-milk yoghurt). She said it was really nice, so when I saw it while doing our fruit and veg shopping online the other day, I decided to grab a tub to try. It got delivered yesterday morning, but I put it in the fridge and forgot all about it until late last night, when Rob and I were getting a bit peckish.

Please excuse the blurry pics. I had to take them from my perch on the couch, in the semi-darkness, while Rob was salivating.

The ingredients are  organic coconut milk, starch (tapioca, pectin 440), Xylitol, mango (min 10%), probiotic cultures.

 

Creamy texture, kind of like meringue before it is baked.

 

Mango on bottom

 

We both really enjoyed it.  It definitely had a coconut-milk flavour, but was much thicker and creamier (not as thick as  coconut cream though; more of a whipped texture). I’d happily buy it more often, apart from the cost: $9.95 for a 400g tub!

The company also does a coconut ice cream, which sounds delicious, but I’m not sure how well it would survive a delivery from the other side of town :-(

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Today’s eats

1. Smoothie with sunflower seed milk, rice protein, kale, banana, apple and cinnamon

2. Juice made from kale, mandarins (off our tree) and ginger. Goji berries.

3. Smoothie  made with water, rice protein, banana, frozen cherries, hemps seeds and cacao powder.

4. Juice made from carrot, beetroot, apple and lemon.

5. Magic Sausage Supper (recipe here)

Bananas

We get through a lot of bananas in our house. I usually have at least one a day, and Rob usually has at least two. So I order lots. And they usually come in lots of little bunches. But not today...

This bunch has about 20 bananas on it!

My lack of appetite/liquid diet seems to be having some sort of effect. This morning Rob asked me if I'd lost some weight, as my pants looked looser. I have no idea, as it's a struggle to get clothes off and on at the moment, but my stomach seems to be flatter.

Today's eats
1. Smoothie with rice milk, yerba mate tea, rice protein, banana, cloves and spirulina
2. Green smoothie made with cos lettuce, cucumber, avocado, apple and a couple of prunes
3. Last of the chicken and corn soup, apple
4. Dinner-plate-sized salad with coriander dressing, T-bone steak, glass red wine

Some Recent Eats

Cabbage Salad

 

Raspberry and Spinach Salad

 

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

 

Kale and Ginger Salad

 

Turnip Fries

 

Dhal with Spinach

 

Sausage Chowder with Kale

 

Beet Salad with Hummus

Finding My Way to My Happy Place, part two

Watching Minding Your Mitochondria was a ‘lightbulb’ moment for me. In it Dr Wahls states that because of the way people in the developed world eat, we are in fact starving ourselves. We are alive because of complicated chemical reactions. If we are not providing the building blocks (vitamins, minerals, essential fats), those reactions cannot happen properly, leading to the wrong structures being made or structures simply not being made at all. It sets the stage for chronic disease…

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Dr Wahls set out to discover a way of eating for optimal health and vitality. She reversed some of her symptoms, by becoming what she calls a ‘modern day hunter gatherer’. She suggests that each day we eat:

3 cups of green leaves

(3 cups is a dinner plate heaped high)

Green leaves are rich in vitamins B, A, C, K and minerals.

The B vitamins will protect your brain cells and your mitochondria (the mitochondria in each of our cells manage the energy supply for that cell).

Vitamins A and C support your immune cells.

Vitamin K keeps your blood vessels and bones healthy.

Minerals are co-factors for hundreds of different enzymes in your body.

Having a plate full of daily greens will dramatically reduce your risk of cataracts and macular degeneration.

--> Have more kale (it has the most nutrition per calorie of any plant), more parsley, cooked greens and smoothies with greens.

3 cups of sulfur-rich vegetables

Your brain and mitochondria need sulfur.

Your liver and kidney need sulfur so they can remove toxins from your bloodstream

--> The cabbage family is rich in sulfur. Includes cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, turnips, swedes, radishes and kale.

--> The onion family is also rich in sulfur. Includes onions, garlic, leeks, chives, shallots.

--> mushrooms and asparagus also contain sulfur.

3 cups of bright colour (preferably 3 different colours)

Colour are flavonoids and polyphenols, potent antioxidants that will support your retina, your mitochondria, your brain cells and the removal of toxins.

--> You can get your colours from vegetables like beets, carrots, peppers, red cabbage, or you can get them from berries and brightly coloured fruit like peaches and oranges.

High-quality protein that’s rich in omega 3 fatty acids

Omega 3 fatty acids insulate the wiring in your brain; it also helps in the development of straight teeth and a larger brain.

--> Have wild fish (particularly salmon and herring) and grass-fed meat

In addition, include

organ meat once a week

Organ meats are concentrated sources of vitamins, minerals and coenzyme Q. They are particularly potent at supporting your mitochondria.

--> Try organ meats like liver, heart, tongue, gizzards or sweetbreads

seaweed at least once a week

Seaweed is a rich source of iodine and selenium.

Your brain needs iodine to make myelin, the insulation for the wiring. It also needs iodine to remove toxins, particularly mercury, lead and heavy metals. Adequate iodine lowers your risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Dr Wahls states that if you commit to having these nine cups (three platefuls) of vegetables and berries every day before you have grain, potatoes or dairy, you will have dramatically increased the vitamin and mineral content of your diet, plus you will have dramatically lowered the risk of food allergies.

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I listened to the talk several times, and made notes. Then decided to give it to try. What did I have to lose?

More next time.

Post Comp Diets - Finding My Way to My Happy Place

I did two figure competitions in 2006, one in 2007 and two in 2008. Each year I worked with a different trainer, and each used a different way to get results (in terms of nutrition, they were 'meal plans', carb cycling, and calorie counting).

Keith Klein, founder of the Institute of Eating Management, said 'Even if your intentions are to stay lean after a contest, when you start eating more normally, your brain is going to turn up your appetite. The body doesn’t know the difference between true starvation and the purposeful withholding of food.' (More here.) That was certainly the case for me, and even though I had exit strategies in place, I always found myself back where I started before my comp preps, wondering how I'd managed to do it to myself again.

The cumulative effect was that I found it hard to relax around food. I'd alternate between being strict about what I ate (and grouchy - poor Rob) and eating whatever I wanted (then being depressed about putting on weight - poor Rob).

In the years that followed my last comp, I spent a lot of time on the internet 'researching', and bought lots of books and e-books in an effort to find the 'best diet' to help me lose weight and keep it off. I can't say it was an entirely miserable time. I tried lots of new recipes and found some really yummy ones, and I enjoyed sharing my 'food adventures' through my blog. But I still didn't get the results I was after. It probably didn't help that I wasn't willing to calorie count, and I was reluctant to cut out a lot of fruit (as low-carb fans often do).

Earlier this year I read Sara's post L.O.V.E, about how she eats. In it, she linked to Terry Wahl's video Minding Your Mitochondria, saying it was well worth a watch. Intrigued, I clicked on the link and that was the start of my journey to where I am now. I'll discuss more in my next post. For now, I've embedded the video below.