A healthy balance - this post has nothing to do with art or illustration and it's a bit long!
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my house at the end of my walk at 8.15 this morning[/caption]
We were all up at 4.30am this morning as my daughter had to be somewhere to catch a coach to the Paralympics today!
I went back to bed for a sleep but instead found my mind whirring away with thoughts of gift tags and whether or not I had I put them on moobaacluck.com and updated the images elsewhere. I knew I wouldn't sleep.
A couple of hours later I had listed gift tags on my site and corrected some SEO; eaten breakfast, written some emails and printed out the days orders. All before 7.45am.
The sun was struggling to emerge but I decided to go for a walk and found I needed to wear a fleece. Autumn is really here!
I am on a health drive at the moment. In early October I am having an operation and want to be as healthy as I can to give myself the best chance of healing. I've learned that for optimum health your ph needs to be at 6.5 'dipping' into 7 at least once a day. To achieve that I've had to cut out wine, all pork and derivatives, cakes,no white potatoes,crisps, no salmon or seafood ( waah!), chocolate, biscuits, white flour, cut back on wheat generally, no tea or coffee. This isn't self proscribed - I have instructions. I also need to try to eat my main meal in the middle of the day - only eating meat then - if at all, but making sure I eat a small salad first. And drink a lemon juice solution which helps alkalise your system - but I now know, you can easily go too far the other way, I feel a bit spacey at 8 ( although I may be imagining this)?! So I am keeping tabs on myself and learning how my body reacts to certain food.
Fortunately I love vegetables and salad, rice and grains which is what I am left with mostly! Sweet potatoes are encouraged. I roasted lamb at the weekend and did a huge tray full of parsnips, sweet pots, carrots and white potatoes with garlic and balsamic vinegar. It was easy not to serve myself with potatoes - honest.
I went up to London at the weekend to meet two friends for lunch and see the Shakespeare exhibition at the British Museum. I wasn't an angel - it was a special occasion and a limited three course menu with a free glass of wine. Was I about to pass this up?! The first alcohol I've had in 3 weeks was a small glass of absolutley delicious Merlot. I wonder if my taste buds might have become more acute in such a short time. It tasted wonderful!
Wine I had cut out a while ago just because I notice that I feel low the day after drinking any really. Thinking about this as I write it.. my mood on Sunday was not the best. One small glass! I wonder?
Physically I am losing weight which is a great side effect - it's subtle and early days. I love indulging myself with avocado or fruit salad for breakfast and loads of veg; once the children are back at school I will try harder to stick to the rules. I know that in November it will be a challenge to eat a big meal in the day time without forward planning. About time I started to use the slow cooker my mother bought me last Christmas!!
As a designer maker I am coming up to my busiest time of year and still have so much to sort out and prepare. I am so determined this year to get as much as I can painted beforehand. When there is a gap in orders at this time of year I must not sit back! And yet I must - absolutely must get out of the house everyday.
How much better I feel having had a 30 minute walk before work. If I leave it thinking I will walk later in the day, I won't.
It's so important when you are a sedentry artist with a time consuming way of working to make sure you move everyday.. somehow I think my to-ing and fro-ing to the summerhouse isn't quite enough!
What do you do to stay healthy? One of my Twitter friends is doing a burst of intense skipping alternately with a run the next day which I think is a fabulous idea. It's all about aquiring new habits isn't it. Rather than beating yourself up if one or two days slip by with you acting like a vegetable and in my case - eating them too!
my house at the end of my walk at 8.15 this morning[/caption]We were all up at 4.30am this morning as my daughter had to be somewhere to catch a coach to the Paralympics today!
I went back to bed for a sleep but instead found my mind whirring away with thoughts of gift tags and whether or not I had I put them on moobaacluck.com and updated the images elsewhere. I knew I wouldn't sleep.
A couple of hours later I had listed gift tags on my site and corrected some SEO; eaten breakfast, written some emails and printed out the days orders. All before 7.45am.
The sun was struggling to emerge but I decided to go for a walk and found I needed to wear a fleece. Autumn is really here!
I am on a health drive at the moment. In early October I am having an operation and want to be as healthy as I can to give myself the best chance of healing. I've learned that for optimum health your ph needs to be at 6.5 'dipping' into 7 at least once a day. To achieve that I've had to cut out wine, all pork and derivatives, cakes,no white potatoes,crisps, no salmon or seafood ( waah!), chocolate, biscuits, white flour, cut back on wheat generally, no tea or coffee. This isn't self proscribed - I have instructions. I also need to try to eat my main meal in the middle of the day - only eating meat then - if at all, but making sure I eat a small salad first. And drink a lemon juice solution which helps alkalise your system - but I now know, you can easily go too far the other way, I feel a bit spacey at 8 ( although I may be imagining this)?! So I am keeping tabs on myself and learning how my body reacts to certain food.
Fortunately I love vegetables and salad, rice and grains which is what I am left with mostly! Sweet potatoes are encouraged. I roasted lamb at the weekend and did a huge tray full of parsnips, sweet pots, carrots and white potatoes with garlic and balsamic vinegar. It was easy not to serve myself with potatoes - honest.
I went up to London at the weekend to meet two friends for lunch and see the Shakespeare exhibition at the British Museum. I wasn't an angel - it was a special occasion and a limited three course menu with a free glass of wine. Was I about to pass this up?! The first alcohol I've had in 3 weeks was a small glass of absolutley delicious Merlot. I wonder if my taste buds might have become more acute in such a short time. It tasted wonderful!
Wine I had cut out a while ago just because I notice that I feel low the day after drinking any really. Thinking about this as I write it.. my mood on Sunday was not the best. One small glass! I wonder?
Physically I am losing weight which is a great side effect - it's subtle and early days. I love indulging myself with avocado or fruit salad for breakfast and loads of veg; once the children are back at school I will try harder to stick to the rules. I know that in November it will be a challenge to eat a big meal in the day time without forward planning. About time I started to use the slow cooker my mother bought me last Christmas!!
As a designer maker I am coming up to my busiest time of year and still have so much to sort out and prepare. I am so determined this year to get as much as I can painted beforehand. When there is a gap in orders at this time of year I must not sit back! And yet I must - absolutely must get out of the house everyday.
How much better I feel having had a 30 minute walk before work. If I leave it thinking I will walk later in the day, I won't.
It's so important when you are a sedentry artist with a time consuming way of working to make sure you move everyday.. somehow I think my to-ing and fro-ing to the summerhouse isn't quite enough!
What do you do to stay healthy? One of my Twitter friends is doing a burst of intense skipping alternately with a run the next day which I think is a fabulous idea. It's all about aquiring new habits isn't it. Rather than beating yourself up if one or two days slip by with you acting like a vegetable and in my case - eating them too!
Well done Gabs, with your healthy eating, you are doing so well. I found cutting out wheat & sugar the easiest thing of all. If I ever eat anything sweet or something that has wheat in it now, it makes me feel bloated and poorly. I really don't miss cakes or bread at all. I'll be thinking of you in October, hope everything goes well for you xx
ReplyDeleteI also just started walking this week now that the weather isn’t so hot anymore. I can feel how tight my hips / joints have gotten from sitting at the computer too much! Surprised that fish is off the menu. Wishing you a speedy recovery in October. x- femi
ReplyDeletethanks so much Femi - yes the fish surprised me too... I think it's just sea water fish/sea food but I can't remember off the top of my head. Know Tuna is one of them - and salmon which we have a lot of normally. I don't think I'd be able to do this forever and I am not sticking to it absolutely. Just close to as I can. Keep up the walking ! x Gabs
ReplyDeleteThanks Ali :) Funnily enough what Billy sent me says I can have bread - as long as with butter and jams!? but just not more than 1 slice a day and no white flour. Always butter with it. Which I was very pleased about as I've always thought natural fats ( in small quantities) were good for you. Never been a substitute fan. So far I've been fine about no cake or biscuits.. but it's hard as dh and the children have those things a LOT! x
ReplyDelete