Fruitful mornings: day 4

Well, it has been actually more like week 3 of having only fruit (raw greens and herbal tea okay) until noon, but it is an officially day 4 :) since I started counting only this Monday.

So far so good. Just mastering this one habit is a lot easier than having a lot if restrictions to adhere to all at once.

What I have found myself doing in the last couple of data is eating beyond 6:30 pm.

The next habit I must master is the no more eating after 6:30 pm. Just like every professional kitchen, when the fire is off, the kitchen is closed for that day!

By eating no later than 6:30 pm, my digestive system will have enough time to clear out the precious day's food.

Looking forward to day 5 :)

See you again soon!

Kim

21 Fruitful mornings

Welcome to my saga of being snack free. I am having hiccups along the way, and am constantly finding a way to get over them.

So far I have been successful being snack free Monday to Thursday. When Thursday comes I get into more of a survival mode. My husband notices that Thursdays are also his most challenging day to keep promises to himself.

So we need a plan... If that plan doesn't work then we will keep trying. 

Let me revisit my "why" for this 21 day challenge.

When I originally started this blog on being 25 pounds lighter, tighter and brighter in 5 months, I had a a vision that in July I would 25 pounds firmer and leaner.  Well, it is now July and I am 158 pounds, just 5 pounds under where I had started off with at 163. 

Many changes have taken place in my life yet many things still stay the same. For example, my struggle with keeping promises I make to myself.

It is the little consistent things I want to change for try shall have the biggest impact on my life and there the people around me.

There really isn't anything complicated about living in a leaner and healthier physical body: eat well (eat real food, mostly plants, and not too much), get plenty of exercise, get enough rest and sleep...

Well, the thing is, simple isn't always easy. I must start with one thing and master it before moving on to the next.

So for the next 21 days, the goal is to have nothing except fruit (greens are okay as well as herbal teas) until noon. 

My brain needs to know that I keep promises I make to myself.

Thank you for reading, and a fruity fruitful day to you!

Kim

Tomorrow starting over again

So yesterday I ended up eating a bag (almost the entire bag) of dill pickle chips... Past 6:30 pm, so yesterday did not complete as a snack free day.

Today I ate beyond 6:30 as well, so that leaves me with starting over again tomorrow at day 1 of my 21 snack free days challenge.

What has give consistently well, I would like to tell you, is the fruit only until noon rule. That broke today when I decided (notice that it was a conscious decision) to sink my teeth into a piece of cake that was offered at the Port Hope Farmers' Market to celebrate its 36th birthday.  It looked at the time:  11:54 am; I figured it was close enough to noon.

So after almost a week of fruit only until noon, I am feeling more space around the belly ;)

To a new day!

Kim

Oh, I also got a haircut today :) first time in over a year.

21 snack free days: day 2 and 3

Tomorrow will be day four :) 

The last two days have been good just having some fruit in the morning and then eating a late lunch at around 1:40 pm.

I have also been conscious about eating proteins and starchy carbs at different meals but I have not commits to focussing on that yet. I am working to commit to the fruit until noon and minimum 3 hours between lunch and supper, and supper's last bite is eaten no later than 6:30 pm.

Today I was tempted to have a slice if pizza that my mom had leftover - in fact I gave in and ate it... Not only that but u are it with butter and maple syrup. Now that just opened up an intense craving for more bread and savoury flavour. So made a gluten free sandwich with butter and maple syrup followed by a few lentil chips to neutralize the super sweet taste in my mouth and blood stream. 

The best tricks do far have been to eat and then leave, brushing my teeth and drinking water with peppermint oil.

Now for supper I actually bought a box of butter croissants... Which I later ate 4 of - they were not tasty but I ate them. Why? Because I bought them and didn't want to waste them.  What do you think of this response? 

I had promised not to bring gluten home. But I did it tonight. I am sorry. Please forgive me and let me start over.

Have an amazing day!

Kim

21 snack free days: day 1

Okay second attempt at making this post...

Yay! I made it through day one :) no snacks, and actually no hunger either.

So here are the parameters for my eating "game" (the is fun):

1.  Fruit only until noon

2.  At least 1 hour between fruit breakfast and lunch

3. At least 3 hours between lunch and supper

4. Finish last bite no later than 6:30 pm

That's it for now. Off to bed now.  Looking forward to reporting a successful day 2.

Thank you for following! Thank you for your support :)

Kim

Self sabotage

Hello! 

Well, guess what?  I did not flow through with my intentions for today...

Breakfast and lunch were fine and even getting to super just after 3 hours following lunch was fine, but when I found out that I had gone over my one hour mark for eating supper (lots of interruptions with children and getting food, serving others), something inside me decided "we'll, since you have already gone over the one hour mark, you may as well eat the rest of what is in your bowl. Since you've already ruined your 5 day streak, you may as well eat even more." 

Then the preprogrammed behaviour jut started to take over, it seemed.  After eating savoury, I would eat something sweet, then something savoury, sweet, etc... I ate for over two hours, and by the time I was fine it was already almost 7 pm, 30 minutes outside of my intentions for finishing the last meal of the day.

So in summary, I am restarting my 21 days being snack free. This means tomorrow I will start at say one again. 

I contemplated just redoing day 6, but I want to take example from Will Bowen's 21 day challenge with the purple bracelets to be 21 days complaint free.  

I can do this! This is a temporary setback.

See you again in tomorrow's post as I start over :)

Be the best you can be!

Kim

Day 5 of 21 snack free days

Well, today was a bit challenging but got through it without snacking! I said 'no' a few times which empowered me :)

I had a later lunch that lasted a full hour sharing my veggies and sprouted sunflower dip with my friend Gabrielle.  She liked it so much that it has inspired me to write out the recipe in this post for you and for her :)

Supper out with my husband was good, and it lasted for about an hour too.

Sprouted sunflower dip:

1 cup raw dry organic sunflower seeds with shells removed (soak 7 hours it overnight, drain and rinse, let sprout over a day or two always rinsing a couple times thoroughly the day)

.5 to 1 teaspoon pink salt

Juice of 1.5 lemons (adjust according to your tastes)

Filtered water about half a cup

One Clive if fresh garlic grated finely

One tablespoon or 2 of freshly chopped dill weed

One spring onion minced (green and white parts)

Sprinkle of turmeric

Throw in sprouted sunflower seeds, lemon juice, salt, garlic and water into a high speed blender or NutriBullet. Blend to the consistency you like, taste and adjust by adding salt, water , garlic or lemon juice as needed.

Once blended, transfer to a glass container, stir in most of the onions and dill then top with rest of the onions, dill and sprinkle with ground turmeric as garnish.

Pop into the fridge to chill a couple hours. Serve as a dip with raw veggies, use as a dressing with salads or lettuce wraps. 

Et voilà! Enjoy!

So for day 6 I am going to continue with three meals a day limited to 60 minutes per meal and minimum if 3 hours between meals.

Thanks for tuning in! Try the sunflower dip and please share your experience :)

Blissful blessings,

Kim

Day 4 of 21 snack free days

Another day with at least 3 hours between meals and no eating after 6:30 pm. 

Now, I did notice myself extending and increasing the amount of helpings and "dessert" for supper. 

I will accept it for today, but in future I am going to limit it to seconds.  

For the time being I am still getting used to having only three meals with at least 3 hours between them and nothing to eat (except an optional tea with honey) after 6:30 pm.

By Friday I will start to incorporate the food combing.

Thanks for tuning in! See you in day 5 ;)

If you knew you couldn't fail, what would you do?

With gratitude 

Kim

Day 3 of 21 snack free days

Yes! Another day, another victory :)

Got up to the sounds of a rain storm. I didn't feel like having a green smoothie or fruit like I normally did so opted for a more substantial: leftover rice and vegetable Thai curry. 

Had lunch from 12:45 to 1:15 so I knew my supper would be after 4:15 pm, and I would finish by 6:30 pm.

And that's what I did. I managed to have supper from 4:30 to 6:30 - interrupted, but I am working on that!

I am loving summer and all the local produce!

Thank you, and see you in day 4's post!

Kim

Day 2 of 21 snack free days

Hello! Happy Sunday :) 

Today I had a relaxing meditative  workout pulling out weeds at my friend's organic farm Turtleback hollow. It was a super weeding party.

As I was weeding, I realised that it may be difficult to even find the treasured plant (like the hidden grapevine or raspberry canes) when so many weeds are so high. But if you want to find it, you will find it. Then as you start pulling away the layers if weeds, the plant begins to appear. Then you can help it grow and reap the fruits of your labour.

I realise that in our personal lives we are always in need to weeding... We need to pluck out negative thoughts, habits that don't serve us, relationships that drag is down, etc.

Today I was successful in keeping to my "at least three hours between meals" plan. My breakfast was some cherries and a few sips of a green smoothie.

After weeding was a nice organic pancake brunch. Then I went home and had an early supper which I finished before 5 pm. I did have a cup of wild blossom tea with honey to complete the evening.

Looking or forward to day 3 of being snack free.  See you in the next post.  In the meantime here are some photos I from today's weeding party.

And as always, I love hearing from you, so leave me a comment ;)

You can it!

Kim

Back to "fit for life"

After yo-yoing for so long, I have decided to go back to an eating routine that served me. Once I was in the habit of eating a certain way, it was not difficult to just keep going and reaping the health rewards.

Today I accomplished three meals without snacking! 

In the next 21 days, I am going to write short reports daily of my intentions and what I end up doing for the day.

My first goal is to get comfortable with eating only 3 meals a day with at least 3 hours between meals.

That is the first thing. Today: goal reached :)

If you had all the confidence in the world, what would you do?

Blessings,

Kim