Wow, this is tedious.

So, I have sat and done nothing for way too long now! Plus side, I have wedged up some sleep hours to make use of when I'm back to it.

I have worked from home the last couple of days as the chair at work really wasn't helping.  Its coincided pretty well though as I've been working on something off the support desk so it isn't causing too much of an issue.

I went back to David again this morning. My alignment is tonnes better but there is still the stiffness from the healing process of the damage. I need to start moving around gently again and see how I get on.  I can mainly feel it in my SI joint when I'm sat now and when I'm stood up, I feel like its a fight to stand up straight which is my psoas muscle doing its thing and that is incredibly tiring.  I think it would be a good idea to wfh again tomorrow and then try going in on Friday and taking one of the kitchen chairs with me. 

I read something yesterday about AGE's (advanced glycogen end products)from food possibly having an impact in the onset of dementia. These are caused when the food, mostly meat, is exposed to high heat and cooked for long periods of time.  There isn't a huge amount of information on it when I have looked as it is still research in progress.  This is what the Alzheimers society has to say on the research. The long and short of it is that in test subjects, the AGE dense food raises certain processes in the brain that are known to contribute to dementia. No testing has been done on subjects with dementia though so research is still ongoing.

Obviously, with the family history that Tom has, I am hot on anything that could possibly help stave it off and if its something as simple as diet then I'm all over it.  The society suggest that following a Mediterranean diet is the best way.  The problem is that Tom really isn't a fan of seafood or fruit, something that that really needs some work. We are going to cut down on red meat and make sure Tom is hitting his fruit and veg quota every day.  We don't eat processed foods or refined sugar anymore, which is advisory for cognitive health.

I made sweet potato cottage pie for tea, we had already taken the beef out so seemed pointless to not use it.  They say that the way it is cooked can increase the AGE content considerable and all meat should be poached or steamed and exposure to high heat, dry heat and high heat for a long time are huge contributory factors.  So no frying, no grilling, no BBQing!!! Horror, I love BBQ's. But I think we can have the odd treat! I made sure it was crammed full of veg too, so we ended up with loads, that's my lunch tomorrow sorted!

One of the recommendation is on portion sizes of meat, we generally have 125g each, it recommends no more than 65g a serving.  There is a Mediterranean food pyramid that you can use as a guide, I think we will easily be able to adjust and red meat is something we have discussed before.

Looks shocking, I am done trying to make things look pretty.. I just love the colours.  It was a little under seasoned which isn't something  we are normally guilty of!

Look at the difference 5 days makes, I love this time of year

Totally unproductive

That's the description for my weekend! I had to literally sit and do nothing.  Not my strong point and not something I enjoy. So damned annoying.  Plus side, my back felt really good towards the end of yesterday so thought, as long as I could take some pillows to prop myself up that I would be fine... Oh dear, how wrong was I?!?!

I couldn't get comfortable at all, the chairs all have wheels which didn't help and come 3pm I was almost back to where I started and gave up and came home. Luckily I managed to get hold of David my chiropractor and he squeezed me in...  His comment was that I was fairly well banana'd!! I had managed to do quite a good number on myself that's for sure.  I was out in the upper lumber region and this had caused my psoas to go into spasm, which is why I was struggling to stand up straight.  Apparently this is what your body does as a defence mechanism to protect your back. I have had this happen before and remember that being excruciating when I look back. I managed that doing horseshoe sit-ups.

So, I am working from home tomorrow so that I can be comfortable and hopefully repair.  I was supposed to be going to Sunderland to see a customer on Wednesday but that's not going to happen unless I improve dramatically.  Soooo damned frustrating, I hate not being able to do anything!!

Spoke too soon

My back is horrific, that'll teach me to assume its not too bad. I can't sit or stand straight without being in a considerable amount of pain and not even codine is touching it.  Its a thousand times better in the morning and gradually tightens up through the day.

I had a hot water bottle on it all afternoon which eased it a little but its starting to hurt again now I've been up for a couple of hours. I have come down to the horses to basically supervise Tom, not because I don't trust him but whilst the girls are only going out on the weekends they can be somewhat of a handful if not worked first.  He was absolutely fine though, I forget how much stronger and heavier he is than me!

I have had to cancel my dress fitting, I'm gutted!! But I need to be able to stand up straight to get it right.. Not impressed.

I have a sports massage this morning, so hopefully she will be able to get into whatever muscle has gone into spasm and I have also contacted David, my chiro, to see when he can fit me in as an emergency. 

I absolutely hate this, it terrifies me that it may be something that keeps me out of action for months and all my hard work goes out of the window! Fingers crossed this is just a strain and I will be back to it in a week.  We were supposed to take the girls out for a ride this morning as the weather is good fora change, that's not happened.  We were supposed to be taking the bikes out again, that's not going to happen!! Damn it

On the plus side, spring is just around the corner. The snow drops and crocuses are flowering and you can smell the air changing.  I love the spring, its so full of promise and at the same time, you don't expect too much of it as its spring, not summer and anything is better than the dark, cold gloom of winter!

I am now sat wrapped up, leaning against the sofa with a freezing ice pack on my back but loving a nice Turmeric, ginger, extra virgin olive oil and black pepper milk! Lots of lovely natural anti inflammatory ingredients... Other than the milk, just didn't fancy just an infusion. 

 

I only frickin did it!!

I have been trying for a few weeks now to do a yoga headstand.. My understanding of it was that its all about the control so you don't push up into it, you pull up into it.  The instructions that I read about it said you will feel like your legs sort of float up.  Finally yesterday I got that feeling and I managed it. I was really impressed with my stability once up there and I managed to start to feel out some of the hollow back stuff I have seen being done.  I tried it again today with the same results.  Pretty excited about it tbh, it feels like my first major breakthrough.  Small things!!

My sternum pain has increased somewhat, I think I need to start icing it.  I have tried stretching it out but it doesn't seem to be helping.  It seems to have radiated out into my intercoastal muscles around that area now, which is a pain.  Its funny how much more worried I get about a pain that I have never had to manage before. I imagine its going to be something that will stop me doing the things I love.  I would be absolutely crushed if I couldn't exercise and my latest love of all things yoga was brought to an abrupt end. I am fully aware that the fact I am stretching my body beyond its normal (for me) range is going to result in aches and pains and I am more than willing to nurture that as long as it doesn't take too long!

I have managed to make my back ache from the hollow back work and general back strength work I have been doing, so I think I have earned myself a day off tomorrow!! Shock horror, Sarah takes a day off!!

On the plus side, my heels seem to be improving dramatically.  I have made a point of wearing semi high heels at work to shorten up the Achilles and other tendons in that area and made sure at night, instead of my slippers, I have been wearing my walking boots.  I think this is just resting them enough.  I have postponed my PT from this Friday to next Thursday as I didn't want yo aggravate them whilst they are still in recovery!!

I did come on to blog about something else, but I can't for the life of me remember!! Must've been a lie!!

and it goes on...

The ankles/heels are still bothering me!! It feels like the start of tendonitis, so I am being extra careful about what exercise I do.  Its making for a little imagination for my workouts, which is great news!

I got to the gym this morning and something in my chest must've gone into spasm.  I had stabbing pains right behind my right boob and it hurt more every time I took a breath.  I get this from time to time, for it normally passes after a couple of breaths,  but this went on for a good 15mins.  I think it is all link to the pain I get in my sternum when I do certain tricep work, I must have some sort of inflammation in the cartilage that just isn't easing.  The strange thing is, I have  an incredibly sore boob now and if I put pressure on it, its agony.  I have regular mammograms as I am part of a genetic study as our family carries the BRCA1 cancer gene. This is the gene that has been highly publicised by Angelina Jolies double mastectomy. My next check is in two weeks, good timing. Always better to be paranoid with things like this!!

I'm feeling positive about my diet this week which is good, I'm back to enjoying it.  Salmon was on offer in Tesco yesterday, a whole side for £7.  It was at its sell by date but I just cut it up and froze it so, bargain!! That should keep me going for a while anyway.  Today I had it with courgette and leeks cooked in coconut oil, I treated myself to some brown shrimp too.. An indulgence but I love them!

My latest newly found love is Quark! I constantly trawl through instagram and a lot of people use quark on there, so I thought I would give it a go.  We had it last night with homemade turkey and chickpea burgers, which were beautiful and the quark just added a lovely bitter, sweet moistness.

I've used it for my lunch tomorrow too; mashed sweet potato with ground almond and quark. It tastes fantastic, it almost dessert like.  We will be giving it a test run as a cheesecake style thing! I am having it tomorrow with salmon and veg.

I am finding it fairly tricky to stay within my carbs now that I have changed them, I am having to put a little more effort into my breakfast.  I absolutely love my overnight oats, but need to shake it up a bit so that Tom isn't so restricted when he is making our teas! Tomorrow I am going to try scrambled eggs with quark and cinnamon.. No idea what they will taste like, I reckon pretty good though!!

Tonights tea was fantastic, courtesy of the ever imaginative and attentive week day chef, Mr Burgin. He made homemade fish fingers using pollack and rye breadcrumbs and then they were encased in sweet peppers. The fish was beautifully succulent and the rye breads bitter bitterness worked really well. 

I had an impressed with my body progress moment this morning. My lower abs are really starting to tighten up, I just wish the rest would hurry the heck up!! Got a quick pic on the fly, so not the best but you get the idea!!

Faith is restored

It didn't take me very long to pull my head out my a$$ after my little blip on Thursday night.  I went to the gym on Friday morning and just did a mix of all different exercises. I didn't target any specific muscle groups, I just avoided anything that would strain my Achilles and just had fun.

I think this is the problem, I had lost the fun from my workouts and that's bad news for me.  As much as I love to target areas, its really boring after so long so I need to shake it back up again.. Include the fit ball workouts as I love these and generally just workout in a fun way and if it targets an area then that's great, if it doesn't, it doesn't!

Feel good lunch on Friday was coconut oil fried organic king prawns, avocado and scrambled eggs..  A plate of lots of my favourite foods in one place!!

As always, I have decided to have a little shake up of my macros, my body just doesn't cope well with sugars at all so I have upped my fat allowance and reduced my carbs and I am going to go back to making a point of hitting my targets everyday rather than over the week, it just doesn't seem to work for me.  I felt great the week I was being really accurate with everything and make sure my protein was always bang on target too. I feel much more fatigued when I'm not making a point of doing that.

So, yesterday was an exciting day; I ventured into the world of road bikes.  As you may well know, Tom commutes to work and is soon to be commuting into the city center so will be passing my office daily.  As with everything either of us does, we always get incredibly jealous of each other, cycling in being one of the things I am jealous of!! So I decided that I would aim to do two days a week of my commute on the bike and as its a 32 mile round trip, I thought my £100 mountain bike may not be up to it.  Tom knows quite a bit about bikes from being around them most of his life and then researching them for his road bike, so he basically did all the discussing with the guys at Peak Cycles who are brilliant.  They really know their stuff and they have such great selections. I ended up going with one by the same manufacturer as Tom's, Focus the model I went for is the Culebro one; which is actually a 2012 model so I got an amazing deal. It's not a full carbon frame, but has carbon from forks and has amazing quality wheels and group sets (so I'm told) and as I am light, the better wheels make all the difference.

The weather was terrible yesterday, so an outing was off the cards, but today was so much nicer so we scheduled one in..  Amazing, it was such a fantastic ride and being on a bike like that made sooo much difference. I loved it, I simply cannot wait to get out on the road again! #bikegeek

Today is not a good day

I feel really down about where I am with what I am trying to achieve. I feel like I have cut out as much crap as I can, I have forgone some of my favourite things to try and achieve this and I have spent countless hours trying to understand what's going on inside me, the effects certain foods have on us and what we can do to be better basically.

I don't feel like I am benefitting from it, I don't feel better and healthier and everywhere I look and read there is a different opinion and warning around the healthy things that I am trying to do for my body.. If you do one thing then you have to be careful of this and balance it with that, but if you balance it with that then you could end up knackering up something else....

Its as if everything is an uphill struggle, I am constantly working my way around injury. My latest issue is my achilles tendons on both sides. The left is worse, the pain has gone under my foot and into my heel. I can't do right for doing wrong and its got me down today. I don't want to lose faith in what I have come to believe in, but I have some deep digging to do to get through this.

Stress

We get told all the time how detrimental it is on our health, weight, general wellbeing etc. This got me thinking and what is classed as negative stress; how is this quantified?

My job is pretty full on for the entire time I am at work, and a few people have commented that I seem stressed.  I am pretty dramatic and open about my drama, but I don't actually think of it as negative stress.  I have been in jobs with far less pressure and felt far more stressed as I didn't have the support from management, yet where I am now it is like one big family.  If you have a problem it gets discussed and dealt with and it doesn't drag on in other places... So I really don't feel it is having a negative impact on me in any way, shape or form.. I thrive off the pressure, but does that mean my body is thriving off it?? I don't know..

I check my pulse and that's fine, pretty low actually, I don't find I'm thinking about work 24/7, I enjoy coming in, I like my colleagues etc.. So in my book, I'm not stressed?? Who knows hey, I'm sure a shrink could psycho analyse my behaviour and tell me for sure but in my mind, its relative and you know yourself when it becomes detrimental to your health and I'm certainly not in that position.

Anyway, my favourite subject: FOOD

I needed a bit of sweet, sweet sustenance yesterday so I hit my latest addiction that I have been trying to curb...clearly failing but it was a treat. I would never go back to chocolate etc after eating these now. 

Tea last night was amazing. Tom cooked up some really tasty lean steak mince and then I created a mini frittata with courgette, leeks and peppers. Tasty and colourful, just the way I like it.

A recent revelation for us, have u seen the ingredients in a bag of dried fruit?! More fool me for thinking that it would just simply be dried fruit! They add sugar and oil to it! Why? How is it not sweet enough already?! Not all of them but blueberries, cherries and cranberries are the ones I have noticed so far

53% cherries!! Shocker. Always read the label, no matter how innocent you think it may be!! 

Lunch time

Is basically what keeps me going mentally, something yummy to look forward to!

Organic King prawns, figs, celery, cucumber, slow cooked chickpeas and tomato.  I went a little off base for me on this and didn't put loads of herbs and spices on, I just kept it simple with lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper. Perfect choice I might add, everything has a wonderful flavour of its own that would otherwise be pretty well masked with the addition of even just garlic.  I cooked the prawns in coconut oil and they are perfect.  The flesh of the organic prawns is different to farmed, it much softer, so the crunch from the celery goes perfectly.

I started my day with a combination of two of my favourite things!!

Beautifully presented as ever; avocado and toasted rye.  FIT

I managed to get my weight back from keeping a handle on my sugar intake over the weekend, seriously my nemesis!  But I guess it is most peoples. 

I braved some leg work in the gym this morning, if you follow my blog regularly you will know that this is the day that scares me. I don't avoid it because I hate it and would rather do upper body, I avoid it because it breaks me! I have been making an effort with my squatting technique, but really full on deep squats.  I managed to mash my sacroiliac joint up doing weighted deep squats in a PT session, so I have made a point of stripping it back and focusing on the technicalities, rather than just avoiding it. 

When the weight I am back squatting increases, my form goes to shit.  I lose stability in the SI joint and as I push out of the deep squat, I shift my weight to my toes and don't move up evenly, I come out right side dropped.  I'm not sure why, imbalance in the muscles around that area I guess.  So I have dropped back to the Olympic bar only and been making sure that the weight stays down my heels, my chest stays pushed forward and the back stays straight.  I'm getting there, I have to really force even movement though.  I put my SI belt on today to assist a little in the stabilisation and avoid injury and I put 2.5 on each side to finish off.  Whilst this is a pretty pathetic weight, my form immediately changed but I felt happy enough here to force form once again without hurting myself. I will start on this next time and increase the reps.

I never finished my post from last night, I was going to give you a run down of my weekend grub.  But first, I want to share something else regarding almond milk.  My mum bought some the other day and I said I don't buy it because of all the crap in it and she reckoned that the stabilisers etc were all natural so OK.. So, against my better judgement and going with my need to save time, I thought I would give it a whirl.  In hindsight, natural or not, the additives are still additives and they will be processed in some horrific way I'd imagine, but I bought some anyway. Well, what a shocker, it was absolutely minging.  Not a patch on my homemade stuff, not even close!  It was claggy and unnatural tasting, totally not worth it for me at all.  I will continue with the mild inconvenience of making my own any day! I just wish it lasted longer... Oh well

Sunday morning breakfast was porridge with a few additions and was amazing.  I made it using freshly made almond milk and a cup of freshly extracted coconut water.  Once cooked I added cinnamon, unsweetened cocoa, soaked flax and chia seeds and blueberries.. And I had a right beast of a bowl.  Looks pretty rank on the pic, but I assure you; it was far from that 

Naughty!!!

I've been a little remiss with my diet this week. I have been careful with my meals as usual, but I have been picking when I get home... On DATES! I can't get enough of them, good ol' sugar fix that I had persuaded myself was ok because it isn't refined sugar.. Well, I won't be making that mistake this week, I weighed myself and I have put on 2lbs. I know that may not seem like much, but if I carried that on it would be a good half a stone in a month and I'm not having that.  My aim this year was to strip the body fat down further, not add to it.  Lesson learned, I genuinely can't take my eye off the game without putting weight on.  It's not a surprise to me though, it's always been the same so I just need to rein myself back in.

We've had a great food weekend and we have also made some progress with the DIY stuff we need to get done for the wedding, dropped ky wedding dress of for the start of the adjustments and have started the ball rolling on getting my new bike!!!

Bike fitting properly will be next weekend, I purchased all my kit (who doesn't love getting new kit?) and went and sat on a couple of bikes so the guy at Peak Cycles, where Tom got his bike from, could see what geometry style suited me.  My legs are quite long and I have a fairly short body but he now has an idea of the ones that would be good for me and he is going to bring a selection into the shop next weekend and we can have a play.  I have bought some proper cycle shoes and cleats so that should be interesting. I have never used them so should be able to make a total twat out of myself at least!

Tom mad some turkey breast burgers, I can't remember what day in the week but I don't think I have mentioned them and they defo need a mention. We had them in sweet potato 'buns' and they were flavoured with a tikka massalla spice blend that we have.  Absolutely amazing, it all worked so incredibly well and 1- good source of clean, low fat protein and 2 - cheaper than other mince you can get.

The hens at the farm have been doing us proud, my breakfast yesterday was incredible.  I had poached eggs on rye bread with blueberries and cinnamon. It was incredible, the yokes on proper free range eggs are just unbeatable by anything shop bought, even ones that claim to be free range. So that was a great feel good start to the day! 

Lunch was a super tasty, colourful affair. I had some some bacon steak, I haven't had bacon for a while so that in itself was a treat.  Stir fried this with some chilli, sugar free whole grain mustard and some mustard seeds.. It had quite some kick to it too!! I love colourful food, it makes it even more satisfying.

I have so much more to write about but its getting late and I need to pack my gym bag for the morning so I will finish off telling you all about my wonderful food tomorrow, but I do just want to share my first experience eating out now that I am avoiding sugar free.

I think because my dad has been making such a big deal about saying I'm obsessed with it and its ridiculous, that I was a little bit nervous about asking stuff and I was apologetic to the waiter for asking questions about sauces, which I am annoyed with myself for.  I feel it is a good thing I am doing and I don't feel ashamed of it and I'm not sorry for asking the questions I did.. So next time, I won't feel ashamed at all.  

What I did ascertain was that the starter I wanted had a sauce on it that contained sugar, so I went without.  My main of choice was cod in a home made breaded crust, with homemade tartare sauce and whilst this didn't contain sugar, I opted to go without as I didn't know exactly what was in it. This was supposed to come with chips but I just asked for a salad, which I was pretty impressed with.  It wasn't just a pile of leaves like most places would send out. 

Any way, until tomorrow.  I shall leave you with a pic of the sunrise from my early morning ride on Lara yesterday, love this time of day

That's that ramped up!

Had my yoga PT session this morning and I can really see the difference in Danny's teaching. I can tell his is gaining in confidence and experience with teaching it; boy it was tough.

He managed to target every single one of my weak spots somehow! My quads were on fire. 

Its great to see how far he has come with the yoga and how well his classes are going, its funny how things sneak up on you like that! 

There are some serious areas for improvement from my side and I am going to get that routine written down so that I can push myself some more. I felt it was one of the most beneficial sessions yet for me and is exactly what the doctor ordered!

My next thing is cycling.  Tom is moving to a new job in the centre of town in a month or so, this means that he will cycle past where I work everyday.  So it dawned on me, this is a great excuse to not only spend more time with Tom in the week, but get some serious cardio done too.  I am hoping to do 2 days a week, its about 32 miles each day and will also save me mileage and fuel on my car. As I am biking in on these days, I won't have to worry the same about getting stuck in traffic so can ride the horses in the morning and I will technically be home earlier in the week too! 

This weekend is operation buy a nice bike and then I need to get used to cycling miles with clips and in traffic before hitting that length of journey.

One of the most exciting prospects from this for me is being able to eat considerably more on those days! Wooo

I am just in the process of eating a fantastic lunch, I have been a bit over on my fat a couple of days this week so I am just balancing it out in the run up to the weekend.  Tom did me some spicy stir fried veg and I am having it on toasted rye. Mmmm

Let battle commence

Well, it commenced over a week ago but my body has been fighting all the illnesses I am surrounded by for over a week now. Last week it was mum, dad and Tom with some flu sort of thing that totally wiped them out and I had a sore throat and a headache for a few days.  This week, most the office is sick and I started with a sore throat again yesterday.

I used to immediately go to Lemsip when I felt a little bit poorly, but I have been trying to avoid medicating where possible this time. I had to take paracetamol a couple of times last week but they didn't really touch my headache so didn't bother after that. Part of me thinks the headache was hormones anyway, I have had something similar before.

Other than that, I have been having turmeric and ginger milk and fresh lemon and manuka honey drinks and gargling salt water for the throat.

I laid off the gym last week, I was coming up for a dreaded rest week soon anyway so thought I might as well do it then.  I have carried on this week, sore throat eased through the morning yesterday and I just had a stuffy nose.  That also cleared yesterday afternoon but this morning the throat is a little sore again and I have a slight headache.  It could just be because its early and I'm tired and may ease. I have a yoga pt in a few mins so let's hope it does anyway.

I feel like I am challenged now with fighting off illnesses by eating well and providing my body with all the correct fuel it needs to take on these lurgies we are faced with daily.  I know the fact I have a sore throat means that the perimeter defences are doing their thing.  I like to try and understand the processes that are involved in your bodies immune system, it really is another amazing thing that our bodies just do and we take for granted.  What we have inside us is just incredible, it just does things without any conscious involvement and I feel its my duty to try and understand what is going on, what it needs to enable it to do it better and then give it everything it needs!

Plus I dont get paid if I'm off sick! Watch this space

The stats are in!

I've managed to shift all my Christmas fat and a little bit more.

Hips

1st Jan 2013.  39.5 inches
1st Jan 2014.   36 inches
4th Feb 2014.  34.25 inches
Total loss 5.25 inches

Waist

1st Jan 2013. 37 inches
1st Jan 2014.  30 inches
4th Feb 2014. 29 inches
Total loss 8 inches

Thigh

1st Jan 2013.   25 inches
1st Jan 2014.   22.5 inches
4th Feb 2014.  22.5 inches
Total loss. 2.5 inches

Bicep

1st Jan 2013.  13.5 inches
1st Jan 2014.   12 inches
4th Feb 2014.  12.2 inches
Total loss 1.3 inches

Neck

1st Jan 2013.   14.5 inches
1st Jan 2014.   14 inches
4th Feb 2014.  13.5 inches
Total loss 1 inch

Total body loss of just over 18 inches.  Nice!!

Whilst progress isn't as drastic now, having the pics and the measurements means that I can properly monitor the progress that maybe isn't so obvious to the naked eye.. Or my naked eye at least. 

I'm still really not happy with my back view, but I can see the difference my trunk work has been making. I just have to keep patient and keep plugging away.  I think that is one of the hardest things for me which is why the monitoring of measurements etc is key for me. 

Tasty weekend

We started the weekend with a trip out to do wedding things.  We went to the Fent shop, our local fabric shop. We were after some samples for table cloth material, runners, curtains and seat covers and all in all, it was an incredibly successful weekend.  I get really excited about how amazing our wedding is going to be when we go on little outings like this and the band that we have chosen were playing in our local wine bar on Friday night and Facebook was littered with people saying how awesome they were; can't wait!! It really is going to be the celebration we want it to be and the more it comes to life, the more I realise just how perfectly it fit Tom and me!

We then spent sat afternoon at my sisters, she is 4 weeks of her due date of her third child and her husband has gone skiing (that's not as bad as it sounds), so we offered to spend sat with her and the kids to give her a break.  I decided I would give the kids a try with a sugar free treat, so I went with the paleo cheesecake we had the weekend before, its the one that has courgette in the main part.  Jo made it last time so I had no concept of exactly what went in it. Wow, some serious maple syrup!

Em was impressed, Tom absolutely loves it and the kids were not impressed! It is super tasty, the chocolate sauce is incredible but it really is a treat only dessert, but aren't they all!!

I also had my first attempt at making gluten free bread.  It was super easy, just almond meal, eggs and baking powder.  I also added a ripe banana that I had and some flax seeds. It was really good actually, a bit cakey but would be great as a snack and to curb a bread craving.

Brekkie was hob cooked porridge with home made almond butter, yummy!! Quite a fat heavy weekend but it all actually balanced out in the end.  We finished it off with more wedding prep, removing glue from tin cans!! 

Orthorexia

There is a label for being obsessive over clean and healthy eating. My dad decided yesterday that that was what I was suffering from, and today at work there was the suggestion being banded about too.. In a semi joking way I might add! So, I did some reading and its not something I am suffering with!

Whilst I am trying to cut down on processed crap and refined sugar, it isn't having a negative impact on my life in any way, shape or form. I don't feel like I'm missing out, it isn't making it awkward to eat out, its not causing a problem in my home life and I certainly wouldn't starve myself if all that was available was processed food.

There was one site I was reading and there was a big debate after the article and it was basically a slanging match between the people that like eating processed food and those who don't.  The one thing that I learnt about myself from reading this is that I am way too judgemental of other people's diets so that is something I am going to change.  Whilst it was always born from me wanting them to benefit the way I have, fundamentally, it is still none of my business.