life reset – Rachel MacDonald

Life Reset Wrap Up: What I Learned

7 October, 2011

Yep you read the title correctly, I’ve just made a decision to finish up on the Clean Program (and therefore the Life Reset) today instead of Sunday morning and I’m feeling really good about it!

The thing is, I’d forgotten that I have a work lunch for a colleague’s birthday at a restaurant where the healthiest option for lunch is cheesy vegetarian lasagne, as well as two lunch dates – where the meals are being made for me – and a dinner date in the next two days. Sure, I could go along and not eat but I feel like I’ve gotten what I needed to out of the program so I’m going to go and enjoy myself with no restrictions and no apologies. Can’t wait!

Doing the Life Reset, including the Clean Program and the Urban Remedy juice cleanse over the past three weeks has taught me a lot about my eating habits and what my body needs for fuel to leave me feeling healthy, balanced and energised and I wanted to share with you some of the insights I garnered from the whole experiment:

1. Only eat when hungry… and keep an eagle-eye on portion sizes

This was a big one for me as I love to snack and will often eat out of boredom, particularly at work. It was both confronting and exhilarating to feel “true hunger” when I was on the three day juice cleanse, and it made me realise how often I’ll shovel something in my mouth for the sake of it, rather than out of necessity. The detox taught me to be more aware of the frequency of my eating and I’ve also noticed that with less sugar in my diet (a known appetite stimulant) I’ve been getting fuller more easily. I overate once or twice in the last two weeks and really paid for it. This may sound disgusting but both times it felt like I was literally full to my esophagus. It doesn’t help that I’m a big water drinker so with all that food (both times I’d eaten too much brown rice) and the food mixed, I felt like if I made any sudden movements my meals would once again see the light of day. Gross. Lesson well and truly learned.

2. Fat kills sugar cravings

Sarah Wilson has spoken about this on her blog quite a bit in her posts about quitting sugar and I’d tested it out occasionally, trying to push aside the old mental conditioning of “fat makes you fat.” Too much can, yes, but if you’ve ever read the brilliant book Sweet Poison by David Gillespie, you’ll have read about the affect sugar (namely fructose) has on our appetite and the way that fructose slips through the cracks and goes undetected, where fat doesn’t.

This from Sarah: “We’re designed to metabolise fat (and carbs and protein) and to be satiated by it; we have a hormone that registers fat in our bodies and tells the brain to stop eating. We’re not designed to metabolise fructose (table sugar is half fructose). Our bodies don’t detect it when we eat it, so we have to eat a stack of it to feel full. Which we do. Which is why apple juice can be more fattening than milk – we have to drink more of it to hit the “I’m full” point. Plus, unlike fat, fructose turns directly to fat in our systems.”

Basically, eating sugar makes you crave more sugar. It’s not unthinkable for a block of Cadbury Dairy Milk to disappear down your trap, but could you eat a big block of cheese in one sitting? Me either. I’m sick of being a slave to sugar so have been eating fats like avocado and haloumi (not on the Clean program, I added this in for the last week after eating cheesecake/ ice-cream last week woke my inner sugar beast and left me wanting to devour the chocolate aisle in the supermarket bar by sweet bar).

Haloumi has really helped, a few slices in the morning really do fill me up. Just on that note, I’m really missing my morning eggs and can’t wait to get back into them. I’ve decided I’ll probably alternate between a green smoothie (with all the additions – maca, chia, coconut oil) and eggs from now on for breakfast. After many years of eating toast, muesli or fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, I’ve come to realise that eating savoury food in the morning is the way to go for me.

+ For more on quitting sugar, I highly recommend both Sweet Poison and Sarah’s ‘I Quit Sugar’ e-book, which at $10 is worth every penny.

3. Chia seeds are the bomb

If I could single out one thing that I’ve consistently added to my diet that’s made a huge difference in my skin of late it would be chia. IN. LOVE. I sprinkle them on salads or have in my morning smoothie. Give them a go, they’re full of essential nutrients and they give good glow. Believe me.

4. Preparation = detox success

I’ve really dropped in the ‘Housewife of the Year’ stakes of late (probably because I’m not an actual housewife) due to other priorities at night and even though my lovely fiance is tremendously helpful and supportive, we’ve both been getting lazy with preparing our dinners ahead of time, which means, often, we’re seen peering aimlessly into the fridge at 7pm realising we have nothing decent to eat. Sometimes we’ll go without, or we’ll snack on something random or carb-based, which doesn’t do either of us any good. We both have bizarre dreams and wake up feeling hungover if we eat heavy carbs at dinner so we try to avoid them at all costs, but sometimes they’ll sneak in through “healthy” variations of meals (homemade Mountain Bread pizzas stacked with vegies, brown rice salads, sweet potato and vegetable stacks and so on).

This detox has taught me more than anything else that we need to ensure we get to the Farmers Markets every Saturday and stock up on fresh, organic produce for the week and if we have nothing in the fridge for dinner, we need to make the effort to either do a quick run to the supermarket on our lunch breaks or straight after work. No more excuses.

5. A good piece of fish with a big salad rocks

Snapper or salmon with salad is an easy-to-throw-together, light, tasty meal that I always feel good after eating. Without exception. Not unsurprisingly, I always feel mega-energised the morning after eating fish and salad for dinner and find I wake up feeling nice and clear-headed – which is gratefully appreciated at 5:20am! So yes, happy to fly the flag as a major fish-lover because it gives me the perfect protein boost I need for early morning exercise effectiveness. My favourite salad dressing is either fresh lemon mixed with a bit of olive oil, or lime juice with chilli and a bit of rice wine vinegar. Keepin’ it simple, all the way.

6. Move daily

This isn’t a new lesson to me, but with the change of seasons I always feel increasingly enamoured by exercise and movement. I want to be outside as much as possible and I want to be moving my body in a variety of ways. I’m really loving the mix of cardio, pilates, and strengthening exercises I’m doing at the moment and look forward to ramping it up even more over the coming months. Pre-wedding next year it’s going to be ON!

7. Listen to your body

My body has told me a few things over the past few weeks and I’ve been all ears, because, you know, when your body talks to you in that loud, booming, scary mannish voice, you should listen. Not sure why my body has a man voice, but who am I to question such things?

Anyway, I learnt I don’t need bread. I thought I’d miss it but I haven’t, and I’d rather eat rice cakes if I need a carby fix. Bye bye bread. I also need eight hours sleep every, single night.

Finally, I need more protein and I need to consciously add vegetables to every meal (or at least my two main meals). I plan on doing this by having cooked spinach with my eggs or spinach in my smoothies, as I have been doing, along with a salad at lunch and vegies with dinner EVERY night. When thinking about what we’ll eat, I want to plan everything around the vegetables, rather than the other way around where the chicken/ fish/ lentils/ carbs take precendence. I must say being engaged to a vegetarian means we are very conscious of our vegetable intake but we can always do better.

8. If you’re not “going” at least once a day, you need fibre baby!

Again, listen to your body and take steps to up your fibre intake so things move as they should. Enough said.

9. Writing is therapy

It’s all very busy in my head. There are 10-thought pile ups happening on my information highway on a regular basis, so sometimes the only way to make sense of them all is to write them down. I generally bounce ideas around and mull over my concerns with my man (the best listener I know) and in doing so, will usually give myself advice mid-conversation (do you do this too? Just shows, the answers are always within!) but there’s something different about putting pen to paper. Stuff comes out that you didn’t even know you needed to get out and I always feel like when I get my thoughts out onto paper that I can then let them go, forget about them. I usually just do one page in my journal and I love it. Definitely keeping this up, I’m sure my scribbled ramblings will provide me with a great deal of entertainment someday.

10. Gratitude and quiet time make everything better

I seriously hang out to write my ‘Making Me Happy’ posts because, guess what, they MAKE ME HAPPY. I’ll let you in on a little secret – there are some weeks where I don’t get a chance to write the good stuff down as it happens, and I get to Tuesday night and have a moment where I go “Uh oh, maybe I don’t have anything for my post this week!” However, all it takes is for me to step away from the computer with my pen and my trusty journal and before I know it, the page will be full. There are always things to be grateful for and recognising them makes you life infinitely better.

Likewise, quiet time/ meditation really helps clear the junk from your grey matter. Give yourself five minutes of peace today, tomorrow and everyday. It’s so worth it.

Oh yeah and…

+ I’m sure I’ve forgotten some of the other lessons I learned but those are the main ones. All in all, it’s been an incredibly productive and insightful few weeks and I’ve loved making a conscious effort to connect with my body and soul and reset the components of my life that needed a shake up.

+ I’d love to know your thoughts on the Life Reset in general and would also LOVE to know, what health rules/ guidelines do you try and live by? What are your must-do’s for living a happy, balanced existence? Tell us in the comments below! And if you’re continuing your Life Reset, or just starting, wishing you all the very best – please drop back in and tell us how it went when you’re done! x

Images: 1. Brown Eyed Belle Julie 2. Super Swoon

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How I Fell Off the Detox Wagon

3 October, 2011

I’m pretty sure lemon and pear cheesecake, potato-based curry, French fries and ice-cream aren’t on the Clean program, yet I’ve eaten all of these in the past three days.

Oops. Big oops. I fell off the wagon, and I fell good, grazed knees and all.

I’ll explain…

It all started on Friday with me staring out the window at work, drinking in the afternoon sun and the summery haze over the mountains in the distance, fantasising about having a nice glass of chilled white wine after work. I don’t know what it is about Fridays but I guess because it’s pretty rare for me to hit the town partying these days, Friday or Saturday nights have become my ‘treat’ nights where I’ll have a wine or two, or a nice dessert after dinner. Fine normally, but not so fine when you’re doing the no alcohol, no wheat, no sugar, no dairy thing.

I managed to hold off on the post-work wine and my fiance Ramai and I headed out to an awesome new vegetarian restaurant, where we ate a mix of salads (look at us go!) and a coconut milk-based potato curry (oh, wait, was this on the Yay, Eat Heaps of This! List?) Something tells me no.

In a move critics are calling “irresponsible” and “idiotic,” we then decided that the cheesecake in the cabinet – winking back at us in all its cheesecakey glory – was something we should definitely be putting in our mouths immediately, if not sooner. Insert (a very loud) OH. DEAR.

This is what happened

It tasted incredible. We hoovered it down. We went home. I felt sick, like I’d eaten waaaay too much food. Immediate headache. Once home, we lay on the bed watching TV… and passed out at 8:30pm, fully-clothed, make-up still on (for me, obviously – Ramai has stopped wearing mascara, too clumpy he reckons) (haha). It was as if someone had just flicked the ‘power down’ button. Ramai slept through but I woke up at 11pm feeling like I’d downed a few bottles of that chilled white wine I’d been coveting earlier – my tongue was all swollen and I was seriously – actually, severely – dehydrated. Yuck yuck yuckity yuck.

Of course that wasn’t the end though. After The Cheesecake Incident, I went to Brisbane on Saturday for a hang out day with my best friends and since I’d already slipped up, I found it a little too easy to ‘allow’ myself to have a Boost smoothie (which we all know are LOADED with sugar), as well as the fries that came with my grilled snapper for lunch. Oh and I ‘accidentally’ had an ice cream yesterday. When it rains, it ~~buckets cats and dogs~~ pours, hey?

This is what I found out

Sugar headaches suck. Eating sugar makes you crave more sugar and once you have that taste for sweetness, you seek it out often, reaching for more ‘natural’ sweet stuff like apples, dates, dried fruit (anything that will satisfy your cravings). Sugar also makes you feel agitated – more on edge – and gives you strange dreams when you’ve been without it for a period of time. Are we having fun yet? All in all, it was a disappointing slip up that lead to further silly slip ups, but since I firmly believe there’s a lesson in everything I thought I’d take the opportunity to confess, first and foremost, and share the things I did to get back on track with my Life Reset. My hope is that they might help you do the same if you’ve lost interest, fallen off the wagon or have been contemplating throwing in the towel. We’re so close now (only one week to go!) so read on to find out how to get re-motivated and recommitted if you’ve lost sight of your shimmering goal.

1. Forgive Yourself

Before you can move on, you need to let go of all that soul-sucking guilt. Don’t mope around feeling sorry for yourself, or, like me, use it as a trigger to indulge some more – instead, get up, dust yourself off and refocus. This applies to any goal, not just the food-related ones. Did you aim to be more positive and instead spend the last few days whinging about your life? Or declare you’d quit cigarettes for good and have been allowing yourself a sneaky one (or 10) every night? What about those that had planned to exercise daily and pretty much spent the last week exercising your TV remote finger and not much else? All of that doesn’t matter from this point forward. Today is a new day. Love yourself enough to put your slip ups in past and let’s all move onwards and upwards, shall we?

2. Take Action

Now that we’ve got the guilt-trip out of the way, it’s time to take action. Deliberate action is the only way to regain control and grab hold of our dreams. Grab a notepad and make a list of what isn’t working. What is it about your goal/ situation that isn’t lighting your fire? How can you improve it? What do you need help with? Who can you turn to for advice or assistance? Jot it all down. For me, I’ve found it useful to read through my first Life Reset post and all the inspiring comments that accompanied it, and I’ve drawn up a page in my journal that says ‘Power Week – 6 Days To Luminosity!’ (you might remember that luminous is the word I’ve chosen to focus on). Under that bold heading I’ve detailed the things I’m going to do this week to stay on track – exercise, filling our pantry with lots of good food, going to the supermarket as soon as I get to work so that I have lots of healthy snacks in my drawer, lots of sleep, journalling and so on. It’s so easy to have high hopes and high-octane, vigourous determination when goals are new and exciting but it’s when the sheen wears off that the real test surfaces. Push through the resistance. Be strong, and focus on how amazing you’ll feel at the end, knowing you’ve achieved something extraordinary!

3. Fail Forward

Sometimes we get so scared to fully commit ourselves – both legs, both arms, heart and head ALL in – that we self-sabotage. I’m still not quite sure if this is what has happened to me, or if it’s more a case of habit/ temptation winning out over common sense, but the surest way to tell a failure from a success is whether a bump in the road means you shut down the whole operation and walk away… or whether you see it as an important part of the learning process and you get the hell on with things. Otherwise known as ‘failing forward.’ The premise is simple: start (as we did two weeks ago at the beginning of the Life Reset, stars in our eyes and ambition coursing through our veins), make a mistake (yep, did that, wearing the badge), do a bit of analysing (why did that happen again?) then correct your course and keep cruising forward. This knowledge will ensure you’re better equipped to make the right decision next time temptation arises.

4. Be Prepared

With the exception of the ice cream I ate yesterday, which was purely a boredom thing, the other two deviations from my detox occurred when I was eating out. The key here for me: eliminate temptations by eating at home and be prepared. I’ve already planned a range of hearty meals for this week so that my mind doesn’t wander off and imagine all the things I’m supposedly ‘missing out’ on.

If your goal is to increase your exercise, make this the week that you set your alarm half an hour earlier and get organised by laying your exercise clothes out the night before. Have that exercise on the very top of your to-do list – a non-negotiable. If you exercise after work and a friend asks you to meet for dinner, tell her you’ll be running late as you need to hit the gym/ running track/ yoga class before you meet up. For those looking for soaring new levels of productivity, creativity and positivity this week, start reading. Fill your head with magical words and divine thoughts. Talk to inspiring people. Reach out and connect. Practice random acts of kindness. Make someone’s day!

Ultimately, let’s all (publicly) pledge to stay the course. The Life Reset is over in six short days so if you’re killing it and don’t need a reminder to get back on the proverbial horse, hurrah for you – you’re an inspiration to us all! – but if you need a little nudge, this is it. Commit to never-ending improvement in small increments. You deserve it. x

+ Have you stuck to your Life Reset? Need a final push to get you to the finish line?

Image: 1. We Heart It 2. Julian Bialowas

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100 Reasons Your Life Rocks… Right Now!

30 September, 2011

We’re nearing the end of Week Two of the Life Reset (time flies when you’re having fun, hey!) and looking towards the final week, I really want to hone in on two things: happiness and gratitude.

It goes without saying that happiness and gratitude are inextricably linked. The nuts and bolts of it is this: happiness is about how you interpret your circumstances. Whether you choose to be grateful for the opportunity to learn when times are tough or whether you choose to shout from the rooftops that you hate the world and everything in it is entirely up to you. True happiness cascades its way to you when you practice gratitude (like we do here every Wednesday in the Making Me Happy posts!) and regardless of external circumstances, choose to love your life. What you think about you bring about, after all.

Even when it feels like everything is an absolute disaster and life has turned completely on its head, opportunities exists to find something that’s going right. No matter how small that something is, if you can find it, and draw your attention to it, things will shift. Like Tolstoy said: “If you want to be happy, be.”

So with all that in mind, let’s crank up the joy because it’s Friday (!!) and we all need a little reminder sometimes!

Your life is extraordinary because…

1. You are YOU – unique, glorious you and your being alive makes the world a better place.
2. You are generous and generous people always have more to give. Pour it out freely and know there’s always more where that came from.
3. There is no right or wrong way. Your interpretations = your experience = your development.
4. You have everything you need to succeed.
5. You make a difference.
6. Every day brings a chance to breathe in deeply, turn the page, strip off your fears and receive the day in all its glory.
7. You have access to music and you can dance!
8. You know what laughter feels like deep in your belly.
9. People are cheering you on. Most of the time, you don’t even know they’re doing it.
10. People admire you and strive to be more like you. Most of the the time, you don’t even know they are.
11. Chocolate, cupcakes, macarons, pizza and wine exist.
12. You made it through that bad break-up/divorce/messy work situation/dicey time of your life and came out the other side stronger, wiser and astonishingly more in tune.
13. Opportunities to learn are everywhere!
14. Doors are opening where you can’t even see them opening.
15. If you’re single – dating, discovery and the anticipation of that first kiss are yours to cherish.
16. If you’re coupled up – you’re have love, you have contentment, you have companionship.
17. You are trusted.
18. You know that communication + courage = connection.
19. You’ve been touched by love.
20. You live with integrity, you have principles.
21. All you need to do to live your passion is discover what lights you up – the work you’d be willing to do even if you weren’t getting paid – and take steps towards that dream every day until it’s yours.
22. Travelling the world has never been easier.
23. You are evolving.
24. You are healthy. When you nurture your body, it reciprocates.
25. You are good enough. More than good enough.
26. Everything is as it should be.
27. Genius is within us all. Remind yourself not to be so dazzled by the talents of others than you fail to express your own magnificent gifts.
28. You know how to charm the pants off someone.
29. You have the ability to smile in any moment.
30. You are the one you are waiting for.
31. The Internet exists and it’s bridging gaps and binding hearts every second.
32. You’ve been encouraged.
33. You’ve failed… and gotten back up again, because you know failure is a sign to try something different.
34. Someone is willing to stop what their doing to listen to you right now.
35. You were brave. You are brave.
36. You’ve experienced the pure joy of a baby’s giggle.
37. You’ve tickled a puppy.
38. You’ve swam in a big expanse of water.
39. You’ve let go.
40. You’ve stuck it out.
41. You’ve bounced back.
42. You’ve basked in sunrises and sunsets.
43. You breathe in fresh air daily.
44. You have dreams. Small dreams, big dreams, in between dreams. They’re all beautiful!
45. Some of these dreams have already come true and some are simmering away, ready to come to fruition.
46. A stranger has said hello to you.
47. A friend/ lover/ parent has said the words you needed to hear… right when you needed to hear them.
48. Someone “gets” you.
49. There’s something huge, exciting, beyond your wildest dreams out there waiting for you.
50. You have a job.
51. You don’t have a job… and you’re happy about that.
52. You had enough money for your morning coffee.
53. You have money to eat today. And tomorrow. And the day after that.
54. You have clean drinking water.
55. You have a house to live in, a pillow to rest your head on each night.
56. You are safe.
57. You have instincts – an internal compass that guides you when you think you’re lost.
58. You’ve had good hair days, high-octane energy days, power days where everything works out just the way you want it to.
59. Someone has hugged you tight and you’ve melted into their embrace.
60. There are seasons, each one abundant, full of possibility.
61. You can smell.
62. You can taste.
63. You can hear.
64. You can touch.
65. Words like Nying je exist – a Tibetan word that connotes love, affection, kindness, gentleness, generosity of spirit, and warm-heartedness.
66. You have choices.
67. Even if you can’t see it right now, you know happiness is an inside job.
68. And more importantly, happiness comes from the simplest things.
69. You are independent.
70. You have friends. “Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” — Anaïs Nin
71. You are humble and powerful.
72. You are creative.
73. What you put out comes back, every time, no matter what, without question.
74. Magic exists. Miracles are happening all around us.
75. Leonard Cohen says things like this: “Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering, there’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”
76. You are freeer than you think you are.
77. Trouble is temporary.
78. You can bow out, take the day off, erase your energy leaks… and the world will still keep spinning.
79. Light trumps darkness.
80. People are waiting for you to add your voice to the conversation.
81. The Universe speaks to you on a regular basis. Seredipity, coincidence, freakish luck, closure – they’re all signs to open up a little wider.
82. Exercise eradicates downer days.
83. You have forgiven.
84. Answers are born when you get still. Stillness unhinges stuck-ness.
85. You can cry when it all gets too much.
86. You have a purpose.
87. You can let go of limiting beliefs.
88. You can give your time.
89. You can make someone’s day… today.
90. You can forgive and make peace.
91. You can chip away at your debt, starting whenever.
92. You know, deep down, that being jealous of others is a sign to make a change in your own life.
93. Tomorrow is a new day.
94. People are changing the world. You are one of them.
95. You can read in the park with the sun shining on your face.
96. Things aren’t always as they seem.
97. You’ve surprised someone or been surprised.
98. By accepting what is, you find peace.
99. People with amazing energy who inspire and delight you exist. You are that person.
100. Magnificence is your birthright. You were born to shine.

+ I’d love for you to add to the list in the comments below! Why are you happy right now? What do you love about your life?

+ Also, if you enjoyed this list, please share on Facebook by clicking… you guessed it… ‘Share on Facebook’ below! Huge thanks! x

Image: via Jonas Peterson

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Blogs to Bookmark

27 September, 2011

Welcome to another Blogs to Bookmark – my weekly round up of spectacular blogs I’m currently loving!

This week I’ve done things a little differently since we’re in the midst of our Life Reset and I’ve included links to a range of inspiring articles that will motivate you and make you think, along with five beautiful blogs to add to your Favourites. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did! x

1. Note to Self

2. Mocca and Me

3. It’s Symmetrical

4. Fashion-Nerdic

5. The Alkaline Sisters

Inspiring Articles

(some new, some older)

1. Craig Harper talks about finding your ‘life purpose’ and what it really means.

2. What little energy leaks can you get rid of to help you focus on the big stuff in your life? Awesome article from the one and only Danielle LaPorte.

3. Julie Daley hits on some home truths when talking about loving what you do.

4. A truly beautiful piece on honouring the beautiful women in our lives. Loved this.

5. 100 inspirational quotes to refer back to next time you need a pep up!

6. An amazing story on how to bounce back when life blows up on every level.

7. Pearls of wisdom from eight great thinkers.

8. Positively Present talks about 7 secrets to a happier you.

9. Marie Forleo is one sassy sista and I love this piece that asks the question: Do you have an upper-limit problem?

10. One of my favourite writers Sarah Wilson tells us how she writes.

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In Spaces Between Review: Urban Remedy Juice Cleanse

26 September, 2011

Good morning lovelies! It’s Week Two of the Life Reset (how are we all feeling?!) and I want to kick things off with a bang by reviewing the Urban Remedy juice cleanse I did for three days last week.

Urban Remedy is a no-fuss healthy juice cleansing program designed to detox and renew your body and tailored to suit your lifestyle and diet. In the interest of full disclosure, I was sent this cleanse to review by the lovely Laura from Urban Remedy (thanks Laura!) but all opinions are completely my own. I know there are a few of you that are curious and looking to do the cleanse yourself so I hope this answers all your questions, but if not, feel free to ask away in the comments.

The ‘Juicy’ Bits

Type of cleanse: Level 2, three day Winter Warmer cleanse. The juices come in Level 1, 2 and 3 and you can either go for one, three or five days.
Delivery: Straight to the door! Or in my case, straight to my office.
Schedule: I drank the juices at 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm – sipping each slowly for an hour, with water in between.
Exercise: I maintained my normal schedule but something gentle like walking or light stretching is fabulous.

Day One

It’s the first day of the cleanse and after waking up and going for a run, knocking back 500mls or so of water, I was excited to try my first juice of the day (that’s actually a smoothie if we’re going to get technical). I’ve done the Urban Remedy cleanse before and this one wasn’t part of the range but looking at the ingredients – banana, spinach, cos lettuce, lime and spirulina – I knew it was going to be tasty. I wasn’t wrong! The smoothie had a thickish consistency and I would have been happy to drink several more of these throughout the day. YUM! I also found it to be really filling, even though I’d exercised and been awake for 3.5 hours by that stage. Winner.

Next up on the menu was coconut water which I can either take or leave – I don’t find it particularly offensive but it’s also not my favourite beverage. Not hard to sip on throughout the morning though, and before I knew it 1pm was approaching and it was time to tuck into my lunch soup (asparagus, broccoli, green pea, cashews, leek, vege stock, cumin, sea salt and pepper) which was delicious and really creamy! It was nice to have something warm to mix things up as well.

I was still chugging back water in between (I’m a big water drinker as it is so don’t really need to remind myself to do this) and I found I was still quite thirsty despite all the liquids I was consuming. Just on that, I remember last time I was peeing like a demon but this time I wasn’t at all. Nothing too out of the ordinary anyway.

3pm-ish: Oh hello hunger monster, there you are! I’m an afternoon snacker, so I had expected an attack of the munchies mid-afternoon, and because I have a massive, ridiculous aversion to juiced celery (too overpowering!) and cucumber, I couldn’t face the afternoon juice. Instead, I ate five blueberries. Whoops. Felt bad (for 2.5 minutes) but figured it was better than a Mars Bar. Right?

The rest of the afternoon can be neatly organised into the Serious Daydreams About Food category. Surprisingly, the last thing on my mind was sugary treats – I was salivating over bowls of brown rice with tamari, or a juicy steak. Yes, steak! Strange, to say the least – especially as I hardly eat red meat. To add to the hilarity, on my way home from work I saw a bus shelter ad for Pizza Hut BBQ ribs and immediately started wondering what they’d taste like, picturing myself licking off that sticky BBQ sauce… YUCK! Ribs are SO not my bag usually!

You could say my mind was playing tricks on me by then, so I quickly filled that emptyish feeling in my stomach with (one of my fave) juices, which contains lemon, cayenne, agave nectar and water. So good, this one tastes like homemade lemonade with a little heat. I guess it’s technically dinner, and what followed was “dessert” – a milky juice with raw cacao, agave nectar, rice milk and cashews which I slammed back pretty quickly because I’d already been off dairy (on the Clean program) prior to the Urban Remedy cleanse, so I was acutely aware of the rice milk taste.

Mood-wise I felt fine all day – pretty energetic actually – but was exhausted by 8pm and asleep by 9pm. Clearly the detoxing and rejuvenating was underway!

Day Two

Wowsers, woke up from the craziest nightmare on Day Two. It was our wedding day and I’d forgotten to buy a dress, book the caterer and send the invitations – but somehow everyone knew anyway and were at the venue waiting for me. When I did arrive, I was wearing one shoe and handed my old boss a microphone and told him to entertain the crowd… and well, I could go on but it was just BI-ZARRE. Note to self: DO NOT talk about wedding stuff before bed, especially without food in one’s (flat) stomach!

I trotted off to a 7am pilates class and did a pretty intense workout for a hour, with a beautiful meditation at the end. I felt really clear-headed and almost like I was floating during the meditation, it was such an amazing feeling. I’d also noticed when I was getting ready that my skin was looking noticeably brighter and definitely more hydrated. We all know it’s true but it’s worth saying again – beauty really does start from within. The laugh lines under my eyes weren’t as pronounced, my skin felt super soft and I was a kilo lighter on the scales. Sweet!

Energy-wise, Day Two was a bit of a slower day for me. I felt a bit sleepy and coupled with a busy lunch hour doing wedding stuff and no down time, I was a bit foggy by late afternoon. For some reason, everyone at work decided to engage in deep and meaningful food conversations BESIDE MY DESK (this is out of the ordinary – a friend at work even picked up on it) so either they were being jerks or my lack of food brought out their survival instincts and they thought it was time to ruminate on the beauty of a good Nando’s burger or debate whether Tim Tams or Mint Slices were more superior. Big thanks to one male colleague who spent the day offering me the aforementioned biscuits (both varieties), Smith chips and sherbet lollies. My glowing skin and my juice and I just sat there being all pious and muttering “Type 2 Diabetes” a lot.

I also donated my afternoon green juice to a colleague at work who LOVED it, so just goes to show that everyone’s tastebuds are different. One woman’s grass is anothers Bollinger.

To finish off the day I had a Far Infra Red sauna, which has a multitude of benefits. Sweating is one of the best ways to detox the body, helping eliminate toxins and improve skin texture and tone, and believe me when I say I don’t think I’ve ever sweated that much in my life! One thing I did forget to do was take off my makeup so the next morning I had two lovely blemishes appear on my face (only small, but still) but I felt amazing after the sauna and was thrilled to know that along with aiding insomnia, helping de-stress, boosting circulation and boosting the immune system, one of the big benefits of the sauna is that you can sweat off between 300 and 600 calories a session!

Day Three

Friday Fun Day!

My final day on the juice cleanse was awesome. I woke up 20 minutes before my 5:30am alarm and felt light and energetic and excited to get to bootcamp. Yes, you read that right – I did just write excited and bootcamp in the same sentence!

After an hour of circuit training, I headed to work and gulped down my breakfast green smoothie. I was full of beans, and as I posted on my social media profiles, feeling ‘bouncy’ all day!

I had a pesky eyelash stuck in my eye for most of the day and when I was trying to get it out at lunch, ~~jamming~~ delicately inserting my finger under my eyelid (you should totally try this if you’re looking for something fun and daring to do today, it’s amazing!) (ha!) I noticed in the rearview mirror my eyes were significantly brighter and bluer. Like, much brighter. Hooray!

In the afternoon, I had a freshly squeezed beetroot, carrot, apple and ginger juice instead of my green juice but apart from that I stuck to the prescribed juices and whizzed through the day, making the most of the last day of the cleanse. If I felt my mind drifting towards food, I would make a conscious effort to draw my attention back to what I was doing. My stomach was nice and flat and my usual random bloating had totally disappeared. Still no sugar cravings either, which was the biggest bonus.

The Day After

I bounced, danced, bounded out of bed today feeling seriously incredible! As a Lover of Food, I was pretty excited to chew again so I shoved a handful of almonds in my mouth before heading out the door to the gym for a Body Attack class. I couldn’t quite believe how sky-high my energy levels were. The scales told me I was 1.5 kilo’s lighter as well and I felt that both physically and mentally. My mind felt razor-sharp. I was feeling so good that I think I may have even been grinning on the way to the gym, which is a really good look when you’re by yourself in the car. It definitely doesn’t get you strange looks at the traffic lights.

+ So that’s it – it really wasn’t that hard at all and I reaped all the rewards you hope for when you embark on a cleanse or detox of any type.

+ Have you done a juice cleanse like this before? Anything you’d like to know? Feel free to ask away below, and be sure to check out the Urban Remedy blog for a plethora of great advice and tasty recipes, I’m signed up to their newsletter and it’s an excellent resource.

+ Finally, find Urban Remedy on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with their latest news, I believe there is a new cleanse on its way!

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Life Reset: The Power of Just One Word

23 September, 2011

I’ve been contemplating a shimmering guide word to hone in on for the remainder of the Life Reset and I think I’ve finally found the perfect one.

I usually do this at the beginning of the year on a grander scale, filling a page in my diary with love-soaked words and phrases I know will fire me up when I need them to, but I’ve decided to drill down to just one special word that makes me tingle. Something vivid. Something alive, that leaves me feeling inspired and infallible.

The word actually picked me this time.

(I’ll explain).

2011 has been expansive, full to the brim – in output and reward – and completely transformative.

I’ve launched this here bloggity blog with a humble heart and a steely resolve.
I’ve travelled to Melbourne once (with another trip planned for next month) and Sydney twice, because the wandering gypsy in me tugs at my coattails if I don’t keep my feet moving.
I’ve visited New York and San Francisco (both for the second time). Reasons the same as above.
I’ve said goodbye to my best friend with tears in my eyes and nurtured shiny new friendships on and offline.
I’ve been interviewed here and here, and together with my man, I’ve shovelled an amount of cashola into our wedding fund that deserves an applause (in my eyes).
I’ve embarked on a love affair with our SLR. Things are getting serious now.
I’ve planned bits and pieces of our wedding – with a few changes along the way – and I’m about to put my nostrils to the grindstone and prove why short deadlines = success (for moi).
I’ve started a new role at work – one that I angled to get and was kindly recommended for – and in 9 months, I feel proud to say I’ve kicked some pretty big goals.
I finally bit the bullet and got Invisalign braces after talking about them for months. They’re kinda brilliant. If you’re dreaming of super straight teeth too, take that as my glowing recommendation.
I’ve learnt lessons, I’ve stretched, I’ve cogitated and I’ve evolved.

I always knew 2011 would be a beautiful year… and there’s so much more to come!

Guiding Light

As I sat at the beach a few days ago, my word for the Life Reset (and one I’ll be tucking under my arm for the rest of the year) came to me in a flash:

adjective

1. giving off light; shining; bright
2. filled with light; illuminated
3. clear; readily understood

This delightful word sums up what In Spaces Between is all about, and definitely sums up the way I want to feel during and after this Life Reset.

L U M I N O U S loveliness.

+ What about you? What one word deeply resonates with you? Check out some great examples for inspiration if you’re stuck and be sure to share it with us in the comments below!

Image: Fashiontography

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Diary of a Detox: Clean Program Day 1 & 2

21 September, 2011

1. Amazing breakfast smoothie – recipe below
2. Scrumptious salad – recipe also below
3. Snack time – almond spread and apple slices
4. Me with a massively shiny forehead (detox effect or too much rosehip oil?) drinking my Urban Remedy breakfast juice – spinach, banana, cos lettuce, lime, apple and spirulina.

The Clean Program: A Rundown

On Monday, I embarked on a three-week cleanse called the Clean program, created by holistic doctor, Dr Alejandro Junger, to “restore the body’s natural ability to heal itself.”

I’ve been thinking about doing a detox for a while now so I ordered the Clean book to see what the program was all about as I’d heard it mentioned a few times online (Gwynnie P is a massive fan) and I can tell you that I’m already very impressed – it’s definitely something I’ll stick to for the next 21 days. I’m feeling pretty great already so really looking forward to feeling clean and bright and full of energy and clarity come Sunday 09 October!

Why detox?

My decision to detox came after a whirlwind year of weddings, engagement parties, baby showers, dinner parties, birthdays and everything in between, and I finally reached the point last week where I thought enough is enough! There’s never going to be a perfect time to start – we’re always busy – so I decided to dive in headfirst, and I thought I’d document it all here as part of a Life Reset.

The thing I love about the program is that it’s not restrictive in the slightest. It’s full of good fats (avocado, nuts, coconut, oils, fish) and you can eat things like rotisserie chicken, most fruit and vege, raw cacao (my favourite!) and a bunch of other things that would normally be on the no-go list for a detox.

The program basically runs like this: two liquid meals a day, which encompasses a smoothie or juice for breakfast and dinner (can also have soup for dinner if you like) along with one ‘proper’ meal for lunch (protein and vegetables). If you’re hungry, you can have a small mid-morning snack and late afternoon snack – something like hummus, guacamole, vege sticks, gluten-free crackers, fruit, nut spreads.You are also told to drink lots of water throughout the day, which is a no-brainer. Another big rule is that you must wait 12 hours between dinner and breakfast to aid digestion.

Further reading for the curious

Clean Program Planner
Elimination Diet Guide
Shopping List

What I’ve been eating

Tropical Almond Delight Smoothie

You will need:

2 slices mango
1/2 cup pineapple
1 tbs organic coconut oil
2 tbs maca powder
Ice
2 cups almond milk
* can add baby spinach too (don’t worry, you can’t taste it!)

Almond milk: to make the milk, I soaked 3 handfuls of almonds in water overnight, drained the water the next morning and blended almonds and fresh water (2 cups) in the blender. If you don’t like the small chunky bits, you can sieve them but I do so I left them in.

Chicken and Spinach Super Salad

You will need:

Chicken breast
Brown rice or quinoa – quinoa is a complete protein (12 – 18% protein, which is great, especially for Ramai who’s a vegetarian)
Drizzle garlic infused olive oil (um, yum!) mixed with cayenne pepper
Avocado
Chia seeds
Toasted sunflower seeds/ pepitas
Baby spinach

Snacks

Rice cakes
100% Almond spread
Apples
Avocado + lime juice (mashed)
Carrot sticks

How I’ve been feeling

1. More grateful

This one really surprised me! Not quite sure how to explain it but I guess with the clearing of toxins comes an increased sense of peace, and I noticed on my drive to work yesterday that I was looking around and thinking of all the things I was grateful for – thinking about my working environment and how I’m extremely lucky not to have to commute for hours, or work with a nasty boss who belittles me or colleagues who make my life miserable. I thought about how grateful I am to receive phone calls from my mother and my friends on the way to work, connecting me with the special people in my life before I dive into my working day, and finally, I thought about how blessed I am in my relationship (we’ve all experienced less-than-savoury relationships – I know I definitely have – and when you find that person that makes your heart sing every day, you cherish their presence so much!) There really are miracles and things to be thankful for everywhere – we just need to open our eyes a little wider sometimes.

2. More focused

I’ve gone back to the Pomodoro Technique to get some niggling tasks done at work and have found that I feel a lot more in control and less distracted this week, which has been interesting because I honestly thought this first week would leave me scattered and agitated as I went through “withdrawals.” Bonus!

As a side note here, because I don”t drink coffee, I asked Ramai how he’s felt for the past 2 days, to which he replied: “On Monday and Tuesday I felt lethargic and had a constant dull headache, but today I feel energetic, happy and really clear.” Hooray, I can hear coffee-lovers everywhere cheering at that news!

3. More rested

On Tuesday morning I woke at 5:15am before my alarm and felt like I’d had enough sleep and it was time to get up, which is always nice. By contrast, today, I slept in until 6am and felt like I really needed it, even though we had the lights out before 9:30pm last night. It’s all about listening to your body. I’m definitely sleeping more soundly which is great because sleep is when all the juicy rejuvenating happens. Rejuvenate away body!

4. More in touch with my body

As I mentioned above., I slept in this morning and was happy to have done so because I think I needed a good sleep to nurture my body through the first few days of this detox. I’d planned on going to the gym, but instead went for a beach walk with Ramai, which was beautiful – we sat and did a little meditation at the beach lookout (and no, we weren’t cross-legged chanting Ommm) and I felt like it was far easier than normal to ignore distractions and “get in the zone.”

I’ve noticed a shift in my energy levels this week too. I tend to live life at full-pace most of the time, and this often means I’ll lie in bed at night and realise my heart is racing and everything feels really “fast” in my head. Not good! This can no doubt be attributed to eating too many sugary chemicals, and taking them out of my diet has left me feeling really calm. Slower. It’s taught me a bit about the times I eat unnecessarily as well – instead of just grabbing at food (when I’m not really hungry) I’ve been waiting for my body to tell me when it needs it. It’s lovely to feel real hunger again.

Finally, if anyone’s interested, I’ve lost a kilo since Monday which is not my primary aim, but definitely gratefully accepted as part of the process.

Things I’m loving

1. Writing

I committed to it here and I’ve been sticking to my plan. I’d forgotten how good it feels to write down random thoughts – it’s like having a delicious, insightful conversation with yourself and being surprised with what comes out. Will be keeping this up for sure, maybe not every day but as often as I can.

2. Coconut oil

I’m new to coconut oil and I love it! It tastes amazing, and is ridiculously good for you. Coconut oil is made up of 90% percent saturated fats (good fats) and 50% of the fat content is a fat rarely found in nature called lauric acid. Your body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, which is anti-viral, antifungal, antioxidant and soothing – which means it also supports thyroid function. It’s also less fattening than other oils, which is fantastic. Read on for more on coconut oil for weight loss and the health benefits including hair and skincare uses. At the moment, I’m just having 2 tablespoons in our morning smoothie, which definitely takes the taste to the next level!

3. Maca powder

I’m infatuated with maca! An energising and revitalising superfood of the Incas, maca is jam-packed with vitamins, minerals, enzymes and all the essential amino acids. More on maca here – it’s benefits are seemingly endless (especially if you’re looking to ramp things up in the bedroom, haha!) I’ve been adding it to our morning smoothie and I feel like it’s given me the energy boost and stamina I’ve needed to work, detox, blog and exercise without falling in a heap. LOVE.

+ So that’s where I’m at for now – feeling good and half a day into my juice cleanse, which I’ll review for you on Monday (to make it clear, I’m ‘pausing’ the Clean program for 3 days as I undertake a juice cleanse, which was kindly sent to me by Urban Remedy).

+ Are any of you considering a detox? Any questions? Please feel free to ask away!

Images: 1. NY Times 2. Welcome Back 3. We Heart It

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