Elo Aloe

Today I came across a little spring in my step. Maybe it was there yesterday too. The most bizarre really, as this spring arrived in winter, if you know me, you will know that I hide under my down duvet for 4 months, protecting the world from the morbid soul that infests my body.

I rose rather late (lucky me) yesterday and stumbled into my sheepskins (thank you God for making sheep for this purpose), I went through my morning ritual at midday, and zooted along to run errands. I received comments of "Wow, where are you going?" - seriously this is what happens when you live in a village and you pull on anything other than a track-pant and you let your hair out of the ponytail... Anyway to get back on track, I felt good, I put my mind to things, ate my yoghurt and nuts and got cracking! (Nuts & cracking - Teehee I impress myself) 

My creative juices were flowing, this is not natural, I have to squeeze with calloused hands usually. I drummed away at the pc, I packaged really nifty baby shower stuff and got prep underway for a really cool cake for next weekend. 

I have a fabulous (to say the least) cousin, Robynne, who has been putting her brilliant skill to good use by designing me a little logo for this blog and for my baking hobbie. Well I received a few mind blowing designs which I battled to choose from and let's just leave it at that, wait and see... Thank you Robynne! 

Today... I started by going to work, it was quiet and I hurried my jobs along just so that I could get home! With that accomplished, I worked on a little invoicing, I drank my cup of lchf fat shake which I love, and then I did something that needed to be done - I put on the takkies.

For 14 days I have avoided walking, the sniffles have been hard core. I told myself to take it slow, I told myself that distance must be kept low, I told myself that I have 8 days to get prepared for a 15km!!!! What?

Well this was the outcome: 

I took it slow ✖️

I kept it short ✔️

I need to prep for 15km 😳

As I was coming in at home, which has thee steepest hill en route, I liked what I saw, I liked all the indigenous flowers in full bloom, our garden is alive with so much magic. I took so many photos, I couldn't resist.

(That is my house up that steep hill), look at all the life and colour!

Everything is a buzz! 

The life of colour, in winter, wow.

All so alive, what a beautiful world. 

Winding down from my magnificent high, I heard of new life, a little cherub fresh to this land. Congratulations to my friend Tarryn, Benjamin is a beaut. And to Robyn, you will be there in no time at all.

Weak Week

MAN (I have had) FLU

This last week has been a right off. I have been ill, I have been sad, I have been busy at work too.

The worst part of this week was putting my walking shoes aside, on day 1 I just knew that this would be the best time to wash them, as I was not doing any km's. EISH!

The best part was pulling myself together one evening and making soup! I have never made myself soup. Yes, I am a chef, and yes I have made pot full's, but never for me, for the well being of my soul. My gran rocks at making veg soup, so I tried, I called her for advice and she was otherwise occupied, so I made soup for myself on my own, and it was superb!! So superb that as I type, the next (bigger) pot bubbles! Nothing better than a good soup for a crying body. 

We live in a humid climate. It's warm. It's hot! For maybe 2 months of the year we moan, we shiver, we are hopeless if it goes below 20*C - this is happening now. A good excuse to get flu and bed it for 2 full days of the week. 

The rest of my week was busy, not hectic but that bustling that I thrive on, with a cottonwool filled head cavity and tissues at every turn, I battled. I was rising in the dark, getting to work and trying the get go and for my body there was just no go.

I felt like a heffalump. 

 A mixture of too much alcohol, consumed in the cold. Too much child's play with a sick 4 year old. Too much social and not enough rest. Too many sleepless nights for a worn out brain. Too many sweets and carbs for my new veggie craving body. I crashed. 

So as I drink my immune drops and vitamin C, cheers to a better week ahead. I hope to up my km's, prepare for Mozam in a month, eat healthy, work hard and get my happy on.

A Wealth of Health

Health is always a discussion, never agreed on. To me it is a happy feel good - successful!

I studied food, live for my next meal and can shove a cupcake into my mouth faster than a relationship fizzling with a mother-in-law. Thankfully I have never been overweight, I have good genes and I have always had the knowledge of dietary requirements. My upbringing consisted of a veggie patch at every home, and tears over a spoonful of spinach, there were very few moments of "I'm too lazy to cook good food for you kids."
Yes we had pizza nights and yes we were taken to Spur, but not on a regular basis, it was a treat and we knew that. There always has been sweets in my home, always available, but we did not like them enough to devour silly amounts, we knew better. Yes I loved coco pops for breakfast, I still do, but do they sustain me? No! Did they ever? No! 

Breakfast is my worst, I am just not hungry when I wake up. I don't eat eggs, I don't enjoy a fry up or the thought of starting your day on carb filled toast and sugar filled jam. I enjoy my food between 10am and 1pm, real food, I love leftovers!! I can kick on to dinner happily then, a cuppa tea here and there. I do not drink enough water, I should really have more (note to self). 

I have battled with stomach issues for a long time, really battled! Infection spread to my pancreas and I was in hospital bordering diabetes with Pancreatitus. All this happened to a health conscious person, why?! I was diagnosed with IBS and leading up to Crohns Disease, the specialist said there was something in my diet that affected me negatively. Being the nutter that I am, I cut out dairy, wheat, garlic, spices and all processed or manufactured foods and drinks. I kept this up for about 6 months, it was not easy as during that time I travelled to Australia and New Zealand staying with people that did not understand, I had raging attacks every now and then, but once I was home in my own kitchen it all started settling down and I started reintroducing foods. Except for the heartburn! I am big on homeopathy and had begun taking alkaline powders after big meals to neutralize the acid build up. I lived a much more comfortable life. 

I started hearing about Tim Noakes, LCHF and Banting, I was interested. I had always been firm on moderation, but this seemed structured and it seemed to have major benefits to lifestyle (minimizing cancer and diabetes, which play a huge part in my family). I read about it, I met people living by it and I started discussing it with my family, who gladly jumped on board. I am a huge fan, I have seen improvements to my energy levels and I have seen weight loss in my family, I now do not even require the alkaline powder. I kept saying that I would be flexible because weight is not a problem for me, but eating carbs now makes me uncomfortable, my heartburn returns and I feel lethargic. I will be honest, if I pig out it is purely on baked goods, I cannot resist a milk tart, I miss this the most and it is my regular cheat. No more sugar in tea, I now drink coffee - with cream too! I do not miss juices, I do not miss bread or pasta. 

As my meals began to convert so did my energy levels, I could never, nor wanted to, walk 12kms. I do not have afternoon naps, I am known as the snooze queen in my household and have always been known to nod off on any couch. 

I feel so alive, I have a flat stomach due to the lack of bloatedness, I even try my hand at yoga!

I preach food at every opportunity, this is not a diet for me, this is my lifestyle, I literally cannot go back to IBS, I cannot have sugar as there were numerous diabetics ahead of me, cancer is one of my biggest fears, I am the white girl lathering on layers of sun lotion on the beach, this too has been through the generations, so yes I am happy with it, I am at ease knowing the benefits and having read up a lot, I understand that our bodies have begun to resist all the starches and sugars. 

I have had bags of stress, I got sick, I had a cyst of my face!! I still face my stress daily, I am not emotionally stable, but my ailments have shoved off, which in itself is 1 less stress. 

I have my hair done 6 weekly, always! I have mini facials fortnightly. I buy clothes to suit my budget and I throw out the old and declutter my wardrobe regularly. I am a minimilast and I feel great this way! 

Health is about knowing when you feel good, being comfortable when you wear skinny jeans and having no shame because what you are doing and feeling is just right! 

Just Keep Walking

"I am allergic to exercise!"

This was my favourite excuse whenever anybody asked me why I don't join them at Pilates, Body and Soul, cycling, etc. It was an easy excuse.

I have never been the over achiever, at school I was picked for the swimming team by default, and I'm sure I got the sympathy card for just showing up and ended up in the first team hockey too. I was supple and could bend easily through the warm ups, I was the loud mouth shouting instructions, perhaps I was the clown. I loved that I could see my friends for those few extra hours, I enjoyed travelling to matches and the comradery boosted every practice. I didn't enjoy fitness, I was  the slow skinny chick battling to do sprints, I remember being sent on a run one day, around the hockey field, around the rugby field, tennis and netball courts, passed the school and up again, I. could. not. do. it! My body burned, I lost my left lung along the way.

I did no sport again, I was proud to be the water girl that drove en route as my sister ran. She asked that I jogged with her, I tried, I walked, I lost the right lung.

Fast forwarding to the now, I don't remember why Ann wanted to walk, I don't remember how we got motivated, I don't even know where I managed to find running shoes?! I think perhaps I was trying to impress an ex, but we started the 3km's. We stopped to catch a breath, we paused for a sip of water, we chatted to anyone willing, we swore all the way up the notorious church hill, but we made it! Ann pushed me, she pushed hard.

Our walking distance increased and so did the friends pack. We did an average on 5 to 7km daily with a crew of chatter boxes. Somewhere we split the groups, we lost momentum, we stopped walking. 

A few weeks ago Ann mentioned that we should walk, "Yes!". I am not sure where the strength had been stored, but I had it, the 5km was easy. Ann is travelling a lot, therefor she can't walk regularly so I tried it on my own, music in my ears, my phone strapped to my arm, I loved it! I could push myself, I could go a little further, my mind could run away, my legs could burn, I love the sites I pass.

I have an app on my phone called Runkeeper, she speaks as you are going and it is motivation. Runkeeper logs your distance each time and it maps your route. I now have personal goals, hurdles to achieve, each little milestone is like a spark of excitement in my brain. 

I'm so proud of where I am, I'm doing a 10km stretch once a week and shorter walks in between. I find joy in sharing my stats on Facebook, I even uploaded a make up free & sweaty selfie of myself walking! Who is this person?! 

I'm not sure where I'm walking to, but I'm going to walk!