Friday, May 16, 2008

Nourishment

After my self pitying post the other day, I decided I needed to take action to get some more energy. About the same time, my wonderful health-obsessed aunty gave me Skinny B*tch to read - a book that, despite is title, is all about the health benefits of a vegan diet.

I've mentioned before about on-again-off again-vegetarianism, and although I never went Vegan, reading this book reminded me of the many many benefits of taking a whole-foods natural approach to your diet.

So, I've been making all sorts of changes around here - and I'm delighted that I am really feeling so much better.

Some of the changes that are really working for me are:

- I'm taking my multivitamins and Omega 3s religiously.
- I've cut out soft drink almost entirely, and dropped my tea and coffee to one cup a day.
- I'm starting my day with hot water and lemon instead of tea.
- My daily walk is longer and faster.
- I'm doing a little bit of yoga in the evening.
- I'm getting a delivery of organic fruit and veggies and eating heaps more of them as a result. (Thank's Munchkin Mama for putting me onto this place!)

This has also inspired a bit more creativity in the kitchen.

Some of the highlights this week have been:

Couscous with parsley and mint from the garden, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, chopped tomato and some feta cheese.

Spicy vegetable soup - onions, garlic, pumpkin, parsnip, carrots, tomatoes with cumin, coriander seed and chilli powder. Next time I'm going to try it with chick peas.

Pizza - I made some pizza dough in the breadmaker and had roasted pumpkin and kumara, caramelized onion, red capsicums and of course, some mozzarella. I used some spicy plum sauce for the base - and put some lamb on Hubby's side.

I'd really love to know what you find gives you more energy. For me, its such a virtuous cycle - once I start making positive changes I have the energy to keep on going.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Running, talking with friends, and drinking green tea make me feel more energized. Also, I read SB and loved their whole food approach too, but still I have not crossed over to a full vegan lifestyle. I love yogurt, can do without eggs, but love, love, love yogurt. And who can forget icecream?

dawn klinge said...

You're so right about eating being a virtuous cycle. The worse I eat, the less motivation I have to do anything about it. I'm not completely vegetarian but I do insist on organic if I am going to eat meat. I've been reading -Animal, Vegetable, Miracle- lately and it's really inspiring me to eat better as well. I'll have to take a look at SB.

Anonymous said...

At this moment, the thing that would give me more energy is more sleep! We usually eat pretty well, and I can't really drink more than one cup of coffee in the morning, so that's covered.

That pizza sounds amazing!

sweetp said...

hmm i could do with some re-energising, might have to try some of these things.

thegoodwitch said...

Uggh, I am so right there with you. I desperately need to make some positive changes, but my problem is stick-to-it-ness. I'll start something wonderful and then life will intervene and I'll be back to chocolate and coffee for breakfast and tears at 3 in the afternoon.

Aaarg. My husband keeps telling me, "Think Progress Not Perfection," but I still wanna get it ALL RIGHT!! hehe.

Madame Melville said...

Love the hot water and lemon tip! I'm always so chilly in the morning and love a good cup of tea to warm up my toes. I'll try this as a way to reduce some of my caffeine intake.

I agree with anthromama - more sleep would give me an energy boost! Alas, that's not likely in the near future.

Thanks for the motivating post!