After eating lots of richer foods over Christmas I started 2012 feeling rather bloated and icky! I decided to focus on eating simple un processed foods during January, as well as avoiding coffee and alcohol. I wanted to just try and nourish myself as best as possible.

Towards the end of the year I had been sent products from Pukka Herbs and The New Zealand Honey Co to review, and I thought they would be perfect to save for use in January. As well as the products from these two companies I also included a couple of other products (purchased myself) to help with getting myself back on track:

Pukka Herbs sent me their Aloe Vera Juice and Chlorella tablets to try. I also bought some Linwoods Milled Flaxseed and some Dr Stuarts Tea as well as The New Zealand Honey Co products which came as part of this package full of natural immune boosting goodies:

Linwoods Organic Milled Flaxseed

I’d actually been using this for a long time anyway, but over January I made an effort to eat 1 tbsp a day, usually by adding some to one of my smoothies. Flaxseed is a great source of Omega 3 fatty acids which because our body can not produce, means we need to obtain them via our diet. As a mostly vegan I can’t get my essential fats from the traditional oily fish so this is a great product for me. It is also high in dietary fibre which can help you to feel fuller and when mixed with water makes an excellent vegan egg replacer. As this is cold milled it is suggested that you store it in the fridge to prevent it going rancid. I also like that you can easily buy this from most supermarkets not just health food stores!

Dr Stuarts Detox Tea

I’m usually not a fan of anything that brands itself a ‘detox’ product in its own right but I love this tea! It has a really ‘clean’ flavour and I found that drinking it made my stomach feel better and less bloated. It includes dandelion and burdock root, milk thistle, sage, peppermint and liquorice. It was a really nice relaxing drink before bed.

The New Zealand Honey Co: Thyme, Manuka and Beech Forest Honey Dew Honey

I included honey in this delicious ‘black sesame jewel’ smoothie

Until I received these products I had not been aware of the health benefits of honey. I already knew it could be a great natural sweetener but these honey’s all have their own specific properties and health benefits. The thyme honey is high in antioxidants and is scaled against other foods like spinach and blueberries. The manuka honey is anti bacterial and anti inflammatory and the Beech Forest Honey Dew is high in natural sugars that feed the good bacteria in our gut (see the website for more information on how all these claims are established). All the honey’s are also 100% raw so will include their natural enzymes.

I was really impressed with these products. Each of them has a very unique flavour and I enjoyed including them in smoothies, porridge, yoghurt messes etc as well as just sucking on a spoonful at a time to give my general health a boost and with a hope of keeping any January colds and flu away. Due to its anti bacterial and anti inflammatory properties I also made a special effort to include manuka honey while I was recovering from my wisdom teeth extraction. Of course I can’t say it was just down to the honey but I didn’t get any infections in my mouth (I wasn’t on antibiotics either) and I also avoided the colds that were doing the rounds at work, yey!

Pukka Aloe Vera Juice

I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this product, I was concerned that it was going to taste awful but it certainly didn’t! Aloe Vera juice is reputed to aid digestion and beauty. The suggested intake is 5-6 tbsp a day taken before food. I tended to take 1-2 tbsp mixed with filtered water before bed. The taste was kind of light and grassy and quite pleasant. I definitely felt that this was soothing my digestive tract and tummy. I was also very impressed at the quality of this product compared to other brands of aloe vera I’ve seen since. The Pukka brand is free from synthetic preservatives and is cold pressed and unfiltered.

Pukka Chlorella Tablets

I had heard of chlorella before I received these tablets having been a long time fan of spirulina, a similar naturally derived algae. Chlorella is one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet containing antioxidants, proteins and essential fatty acids. Its high chlorophyll content makes it very alkalising and good for detoxification as well as supporting the immune system. The suggested dose is working up to 6 tablets a day taken 3 times a day. I don’t like carrying tablets around with me so I tended to have two in the morning and two in the evening taken with my aloe vera juice. I also started chucking a few tablets in with my green smoothies. At first I wasn’t sure how I would enjoy these as in the past I’ve always used powders and added it to smoothies but now I would always go for the tablets as its much easier to take them than just being able to include it in your diet when your having a smoothie. Like the aloe vera juice, these are excellent quality, they are organic and cracked cell wall which means that they are easier to digest and assimilate the vitamins and minerals.

Of course I was also including my daily dose of Matcha Green Tea as part of the Tea Pigs Matcha challenge!

The results?

I don’t always think that one month is long enough to establish if your seeing benefits from a product, and of course this is no clinical trial, many other factors could have affected how I felt during and at the end of the month. Saying that, I did feel some instant benefits with the Dr Stuarts Tea and the Aloe Vera juice, it could also have been the improvement in my diet but I felt a lot less bloated and when drinking the tea or juice it was an almost instant relief and ‘cooling’ feeling in my body. The other biggest thing I noticed was an improvement to my skin:

Me, make up free (and yes I have non existent eyebrows and a big nose!)

I’m not sure if this pic does it justice but my skin has been amazing recently! I haven’t had a spot since before Christmas, but the best thing I’ve found is that the texture of my skin has improved. I used to have a greasy t zone and dry cheeks along with very visible pores and black heads on my nose and fore head. Now my skin is much finer and a lot less greasy. As I said this may not be just down to the products I’ve been using (I also started to use virgin coconut oil as a evening moisturiser) but either way I’m happy with the results!

As I always tend to say when I’m reviewing products, the Pukka stuff and honey ain’t cheap – see the links to the websites for prices (I think the ground flax and tea is pretty affordable and excellent for what you get). Apart from perhaps the chlorella, I wouldn’t be looking to use them on a frequent basis anyway, I would definitely get the aloe vera juice again if I was feeling particularly bloated and out of all the honey’s I would get the manuka again as I preferred the taste of this one, as well the benefits – I think it would be brilliant to have in the cupboard in case a cold or sore throat was threatening!

Overall, these products are great but none of them are a replacement for a good solid diet full of vegetables, fruit and other whole foods. It is worth noting that these products are actually whole foods in themselves though, I like these as little extras that are great to include from time to time to give me a boost when I can afford them.

Have you tried any of the products mentioned above? Would you ever try any of them? What are your thoughts on products such as these that often come with health claims?

Well it has been exactly 31 days since I started my January Kick Start Plan. I haven’t drank coffee or caffeinated tea (except green tea), I haven’t ate heavily processed foods, refined sugars, soy milk, dairy, eggs, or any other animal products and I have ate a shed load of fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds and lovely fresh juices.

And I’m feeling awesome! I also apologise in advance for the long winded post but I feel I have loads to talk about!

I know some people would have been pretty put off by the ‘detox’ word, and I guess you could describe what I have done as a kind of detox, but it hasn’t really felt that restrictive. The focus for me has been on filling up on amazing healthy foods which have left me feeling vibrant, allowed me to sleep better than I have in a long time and improved my skin.

Some of the delicious foods I have been eating include:

Green smoothies and fruit smoothies

  Blended quinoa porridge

Cashew cream with fruit and granola

Nori wraps with cashew ginger pate

Cabbage wraps with home made broccoli, courgette and olive hummus

Salad beasts

Moroccan butternut squash and chickpea tagine

Soya bean and veggie thai green curry

Raw chocolate!

Even though I hadn’t drank a lot of coffee or ate buckets of sugar I still experienced a ‘detox’ headache in the first few days. In the middle of the month my energy levels dipped – although I think this was mostly due to improper fueling than the plan itself, but now I’m feeling really good and brimming with energy.

The plan I have followed has also meant that for the last month I have been vegan.

source

I went vegetarian last year after doing some reading and coming to the conclusion that it was the right path for me. I really wasn’t sure how I would deal with the vegan element of the plan, especially as I wasn’t eating processed foods or lots of soy products. I was actually amazed at how well I did. I can honestly say I have not missed animal products one bit. This leaves me in a difficult position. Do I continue to remain vegan or do I go back to being a veggie?

At the moment I feel more comfortable being a vegetarian that eats vegan most of the time. I think that allowing myself the flexibility to occasionally eat free range eggs and dairy (organic as often as possible) is right for me at the moment, plus I have a fridge full of feta and veggie parmesan cheese that needs using up! However, I really do think I’ll end up eating a mostly vegan diet overall, and I’m really happy with that.

What I have missed is coffee!

I love my flavoured coffees a couple of times a week, I feel like I’m having myself a little treat and I have really missed that. Detox tea just doesn’t cut it! I’ve also missed being able to eat more tofu and my spiru-tein protein powder (I’ve left these out as they are heavily processed and contain processed soy). 

So, at the beginning of the month I was carrying 4lbs ‘Christmas’ weight which came off pretty easily and on top of that I have lost an additional 5lbs, which I did not need or want to lose. I know I have some issues around fueling properly and eating enough when working late to figure out, but that’s for another post, and believe me I have a few thoughts I need to get out of my head on that! My new training plan has also gone very well – I wanted to focus on improving my plank hold time, work towards doing a full press up and work on my abs and general muscle tone. I’m really happy with the tone I have in my arms, especially my shoulders and my back. My stomach is definitely looking more defined too!

I last took my measurements at the end of November and since then I have lost an inch from my waist and hips and 5lbs. Current stats: height 5’6, weight 8st 11lbs, bust 35.5 inches, waist 26.5 inches, hips 33 inches.

All in all I feel I’ve had very successful January, but I still need to suss out how I can eat better to maintain my weight and not lose anymore. In fact I’d feel more comfortable gaining a few pounds but as I said, I could write a full post on this so will save my thoughts for then.

There’s also a few things I’ve done during the plan that I will continue to do:

• Make my own hummus rather than shop bought
• Drink freshly made juices
• Make my own almond milk
• Eat more raw foods
• Enjoy home made salad dressings full of good fats
• Eat lots of yummy raw chocolate!
• Take a vegan multi vit every day
• Add spirulina to my smoothies (gotta love that green!)

How has January gone for you? Have you started any new habits that you will continue on with into the rest of the year?

Before I go here’s a few pics of yesterday’s eats including a yummy new recipe! Before going to the gym I had a slice of sprouted wheat bread with apple pear spread and a detox tea:

I ran 5 miles in 45 minutes doing speed intervals on the tread mill and was chuffed to stick it out longer than my usual 30 minutes! I then did 15 minutes on the step machine, bike and cross trainer at a steady state for a total 1hr 30 minute cardio workout.

When I got home I made a fabulous big green smoothie containing spring greens, two nectarines, small frozen banana, pineapple coconut water, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, spirulina, matcha and maca. I topped it with half a pack of Bear Coco Cherry Pie Granola and goji berries:

So good! A little later I had a fresh green juice made with two apples, a pear, cos lettuce, celery, cucumber, ginger and lemon:

For a late lunch / early dinner I had a Beetroot, lentil and sunflower seed pattie on top of a huge super salad:

The salad contained lettuce, carrot, red onion, red pepper, cucumber, sprouts, herbamare seasoning, braggs and some cool oil. As I had lots of beetroot to use up I thought I’d try making up a new recipe based on the roast veggie and sunflower seed patties I made a while ago.

Beetroot, Lentil and Sunflower Seed Patties (makes 4 large patties)

• 3 medium beetroots, roasted until tender
• 1 tin of green lentils, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons of sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon of ground flax
• 1 tablespoon of water

Add the roasted beets and lentils to a food processor and blend until the mixture starts to come together but still has a little texture. Add the ground flax and water and lightly blend again. Put the mixture into a bowl and add the sunflower seeds, mixing well. Form into 4 large patties. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least on hour before cooking (can also be frozen). I coated mine in a little spelt flour and fried on a medium high heat in coconut oil for 10 minutes a side. The flour coating just makes them a little crisper. These don’t hold together amazingly well so you have to take care when flipping them!  These are so good, love the nutty little sunflower seeds!

I followed this with some blueberries and pomegranate seeds:

Then I was up and out for James work leaving do. It wasn’t a big  night out, just a few drinks after work. I always drink soda water with ice and lemon when I’m driving. When we got home I had a cocoa orange nakd bar, 4 chopped apples (two shown here) and a cup of sleepytime tea:

As I’m off work this week we are having today as a bit of a chill day. I’ve been trying to re organise the kitchen a bit and have made my first attempt at Socca which is a pancake / flatbread type dish made with chickpea flour, I know its going to be a big favourite of mine from now on! I’m also going to make some cookie dough balls! I’ll share pics and recipes tomorrow. Hope all your weeks have got off to a great start!

I can’t believe its Friday already! They say time flies when your having fun and this week has flown over, it doesn’t seem like we’ve actually done a lot, but we have relaxed and re charged our batteries which was top of the list! I also can’t believe we are almost into October!

On my list for this week has been some baking. I made those delicious Super Charge Me Cookies on Tuesday and on Wednesday I made some bread using a bottle of fruit cider which I enjoyed with almond butter, apple and pear spread and plums:

I’ll be blogging this recipe soon as it is ultra quick and easy and has delicious results! I also made another batch of my simple seitan to stash in the freezer. I did use some for dinner in a pilaf type dish with onion, carrot, courgette, peas and millet:

I served on top of some steamed greens with shoyu, delicious!

The other day I also enjoyed a yummy raw sandwich with the aubergine bacon I made at the weekend:

This was so good! I used 4 raw juice pulp flatbreads with mashed avocado and nutritional yeast and the ‘bacon’. I had the sandwiches with loads of chopped veggies for a lovely lunch.

Big Budget Challenge

I have to admit this week has been a struggle, with us being on holiday it feels like we have spent a fortune although we have had to buy a few more expensive items like washing powder. We also decided to pay £3.50 for a giant 3kg bulk bag of pasta for James, really good value!

I did actually get a few things done this week such as getting a load of things up on eBay. I returned a pair of trousers I bought ages ago and hadn’t worn and exchanged them for a beautiful dress and cardigan that I know I’ll get plenty of ware out of! The trousers were also a snug fitting size 8 and now that I’m committed to gaining a little weight I didn’t want them hanging about my wardrobe making me feel bad! I also spent some of my monthly budget on a necklace and bracelet to wear on Saturday night for my cousins wedding celebration – looking forward to showing you my OOTD!

Other bloggers taking part in the challenge so far:

Sarah @ Every Day’s a Picnic

True Penny @ Cool Beans

Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes

Don’t forget you can also join in any time too! See this post for more details.

Healthy Feast Plan

Yesterday I started my ‘Healthy Feast’ and it has been wonderful! I kicked off with some MTV Power Yoga. It was my first run through of this DVD even though I’ve had it for ages. It was so tough, I was sweating buckets by the end of it!

I’ve had some lovely eats so far and have really been enjoying keeping things simple. This green smoothie was delicious:

This was just spinach, half a ripe frozen mango, coconut water, 2 dates and ice topped with home made raw macadamia butter and gojis. I was really worried that I would miss the stevia and the thickness from my usual xanthan and guar gums but I really didn’t! The ripe mango and dates where perfectly sweet. Today I had another smoothie for lunch. This contained beet greens, spinach, 1/2 avocado, mixed frozen berries, 2 dates, ice and coconut water topped with raw almond butter, goj'i’s and bee pollen:

Again, this was sweet and thick, without the need for stevia or the gums!

I made a big batch of green goddess dressing and I’ve been using it on huge salads:

This one contained romaine, finely sliced spring greens, home grown alfalfa sprouts, beetroot, carrot, orange pepper, red onion and hemp seeds. That dressing is so good I could eat it with a spoon!

I’ve also been eating lots of simple fruit plates with melon and apple etc and this morning I made a batch of agave sweetened pumpkin seed milk which I drank straight up, it tasted amazing! I’ve also made a couple of tasty fruit and nut smoothies:

Fig and almond smoothie (2 fresh figs, handful of soaked almonds, 2 pitted dates, water, ice)

Plum, walnut, raisin smoothie (3 plums, handful of soaked walnuts, 2 tbsp of raisins, water, ice)

Lots of green juice has also been consumed:

I do genuinely love this stuff! This contained 1 large cucumber, 1 large head of celery, 5 romaine leaves, 1 bunch of spinach, 1 handful of parsley, half a lemon and a knob of ginger. That makes about 1 1/2 litres or 6 cups of green goodness, Today I drank 4 cups early on then the other 2 cups mid morning followed by the pumpkin seed milk and fruit.

I also made this fab bowl of courgette ‘spaghetti’ with a luscious avocado basil cheesy sauce based on my dreamy creamy dressing recipe and topped off with some cheesy pumpkin seeds:

I followed it with my current favourite snack: banana split with home made raw salted cashew almond butter, honey and bee pollen:

So good!

I went for a lovely walk this morning to enjoy this gorgeous Indian Summer weather and took a few lovely photos:

 

Is it warm where you are? I’m enjoying it while it lasts but will be happy when it gets a little cooler and feels more like autumn again!

We have a nice relaxed weekend ahead, I’ll be continuing my healthy feast, so lots of yoga, green juice and fruit and veggies to come! We also have my cousins wedding celebration on Saturday night which will be lovely. Any exciting plans for the weekend?

Hope whatever your up to you have a good one!

Thanks for the comments to yesterdays Big Challenge post, I'm really looking forward to challenging myself not to spend! I'm also going to do a post all about protein shakes this week as I know that a few readers would like some extra information.

So now that I have my camera back (I used my beloved iPhone for a while instead) here is a bit of a recap of yesterday and today's exercise and eats. Work yesterday was a bit of a killer, the first day back after a holiday always is isn't it?

I woke up really early again, but at least that meant that I could relax while eating my breakfast. I started with a cup of warm water and lemon and then made up a bowl of muesli using brown rice puffs, jumbo oats and three tablespoons of Dorsets Cereals Roasted and Toasted muesli (I only use a little of this and mix with the oats and brown rice puffs so its not as calorie dense) topped with blackberries, strawberries and hazelnut and almond rice milk.

Mid morning I snacked on a mini pot of red pepper hummus with green pepper strips and cucumber.

Lunch was a bowl of my favourite Lentil and Spinach Soup which I made yesterday, followed by an apple.

Before I left work to hit the gym I snacked on one of my home made cherry chocolate peanut butter fuel bars.

I hit the gym and my knee was still feeling a little tender. I did my usual interval workout as detailed in my training plan and I was very happy that despite the knee and the really warm weather I managed at my new higher resistance levels. Strangely, my knee actually felt better after the workout! I finished off with stretching and 3 sets of my abs exercises.

For dinner I made a lovely omelette for me and the hubby. He had a big ham, cheese and mushroom omelette with 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks, a small baked potato and some salad. I had an omelette with 1 egg and 2 egg whites, 2 sliced babybel light, mushrooms, peppers and red onion with a salad.

So many veggies the omelette could bearly hold them! My hubby really loves the big omelettes I make for him.

For desert I had a bowl of greek style yoghurt with pecans and agave followed by a pink lady apple.

Today I started with the hot lemon and then did my Davina Top Fit workout. It was fun, not as hard as the Jillian Michaels of course, but I did feel that my arms got a good workout. I think I'm going to try adding in some heavier weights though.

Breakfast was a smoothie in a bowl made with spinach, frozen raspberries, frozen strawberries (that I had frozen myself - they froze really well so I might stock up while there cheap and fill the freezer), hazelnut and almond rice milk and a scoop of chocolate whey. I topped with a few grape nuts for crunch.

Lunch was some of my Tuna Bean Salad with spinach and shredded cabbage followed by an apple.

Mid afternoon I snacked on more hummus with cucumber and green pepper sticks.

I'm working late tonight unfortunately so I'm taking another apple along to my event to snack on and then when I get home I'm planning on having a bowl of Bear Granola with some yoghurt and strawberries. I'm not doing too badly on this 'detox' week. I have to say that I feel a million times better eating healthy clean foods and reasonable sized portions than when I was stuffing my face last week (although I really enjoyed it!) Last week I experienced bloating and heart burn, but this week I'm back to normal so I must be doing something right! I've also found that I'm not as hungry as usual, I think this could be due to not eating as much sugary fruit which I suspect may affect my blood sugar and lead to cravings sometimes. So far so good!