Week One Off Sugar

I'm on day seven of my first week off sugar, so I thought I'd give you a run down of how it's all going. It's going, much, much better than last time! Last time I had some ridiculous detox symptoms, including (but not limited to) incredibly bad breakouts, being exhausted all the time (and looking it!), nausea and dizzy spells. Not much fun. Of course, I also lowered my caffeine intake at this time, switching from black tea to green tea, and my usual green teas were switched to herbal. So that would have made things even more difficult. Well, after my work on detoxing my body in preparation for this, I have had much fewer issues this time round. I have only had one breakout, I'm only slightly more tired than usual (and look only slightly more tired, not utterly exhausted and wrecked), and the only time I've had any nausea is when my blood sugar levels have dropped too much. I have had a few new detox symptoms, but they weren't as unpleasant and they are apparently ones that you get towards the end of a detox, when things are going to clear up immensely. Of course, detox symptoms aren't the only thing that one deals with when one gives up sugar. There is the pysical adjustment to less sweetness in your diet, the emotional adjustments to less sugar in your diet, and the having to pull yourself up on old habits. For me, after the detox, the habit one was the hardest. There were two occasions where I really wanted to buy some sweets - both habit filled occasions. One was that it was warm when I was walking down Glenferrie rd, where I do a lot of my shopping, I saw Trampoline, and thought, "I want an ice-cream". The other was when I got lunch out at work, and after getting my lunch at one place I walk to another place to get a cake. After my lunch, I really wanted that cake. But again, I resisted. And in both cases, once I had resisted the cravings went away, in less than 5 minutes. This week will hopefully be even easier, because I'm planning to switch all my green teas to herbal teas this week. That's right, I'll be almost entirely caffeine free, and sugar sugar free! And hopefully, with this and my calcium supplements, my bones will be picking up some mass.

New Juicer!

I bought a new juicer, and boy, has it made my life so super happy!  I'm especially loving having green juices, because my old (centrifugal) juicer was useless with those.

Other things I'm loving about it...
- It's much, much quieter.  I can now juice in the morning before my housemate is awake, and not have to worry about waking her
- The pulp is all juiced, and much drier
- More juice
- The juice is better quality

It's a Kuvings Cold Pressed Juicer, and it's brilliant!

 

I got it via a special deal at Melbourne Street Organics, including a juicing box, a ceramic knife and 6 months of membership at the store for this price.  Membership = 10% off.  I was smart, and signed up for their free one month membership, and therefore got 10% off my juicer pack.  $525 - 10% = cheaper by far than I could get the juicer anywhere (it retails for $499), let alone with the 11kg box of produce.

The deal is valid until the end of August, so get in quick if you want a new juicer!

Loving my green juices!

Single Serve of Banana Pancakes

To make these for more than one person, just multiply the recipe!

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup gluten free plain flour
- 1/4 cup dessicated coconut
- 1/8 cup of sugar or sugar alternative
- 1 egg
- 1 mashed banana
- 1/2 cup of milk alternative (I usually use rice milk)

Combine the dryingredients, then add the wet ones.  Cook as you cook normal pancakes, using either nuttelex or coconut oil / butter to grease the pan.

 

Enjoy with the usual pancake toppings - my favourites are banana, maple syrup, and soy ice-cream!

Detox Part Two: Toxins Out

I posted yesterday about how I was detoxing by limiting the amount of toxins that I was consuming through a source most people don't think about, their hygiene products.  Today I'm going to mention what most people think of as detoxing.

Now, in case you were wondering, I have not, and cannot ever see myself doing that cayenne pepper and lemon juice thing.  I get hungry, and hungry a LOT.  Plus, I actually need to have a fair amount of energy because of my metabolism problem.  So it's pretty much ruled out on medical grounds.

But here are the more conventional ways I am helping my body to detox in preparation to going off sugar again:

Dry Body Brushing: I don't have a brush, but I do have a loofah.  I just brush my skin one to two times a day and it removes dead skins and improves circulation.  It takes about 1-2 minutes each time.

Supplements: I prefer to get a big proportion of my nutrition through food, but I am taking supplements.  In terms of detoxing, I take a multi-vitamin with spirulina every morning, and probiotics (with my calcium tablets) in the evening.

Apple Cidear Vinegar Baths: I aim to have two to three baths a week with 1 cup of apple cidear vinegar in it.  I'm not a big fan of baths, but I'm slowly beginning to not hate this.  I save my magazines for this time, and my lighter books. 

Bikram: Bikram yoga is known for its detox potential.  You exercise in 40 degree heat, doing a variety of poses that help remove toxins from your system.  I didn't expect to like it, but I do, and for those who want a less 'spiritual' type of yoga (read, one that doesn't incorporate hindu or buddist philosophies into its practice) then Bikram is a great choice for you!

Fess: Fess is a saline spray that you can get at most chemists.  You spray it up your nose, then blow your nose.  It gets out a surpising amount of gunk.  I was actually put on fess for a while by my allergy specialist!  It has preservatives in it, but they are low allergen.  That said, I'm probably going to change formula soon to minimise any potential toxins.

Massage: I get a massage once a week.  I used to once a fortnight, as I work with kids and its tough on your back, but once a week seems to be working better.  That said, I had a killer reaction to my massage last week - one knot being released actually made me feel like vomitting for two days straight!  It had been a really sore point for the whole week, and I'm glad it was released and fixed!

Liquids:  I'm very mindful to drink plenty at this time.  I aim for two litres of water (I exercise a lot, so it's not as much as it sounds) plus several cups of green or herbal tea, and at least 3 glasses of juice and a smoothie.  It sounds like a lot, but as I said, I do exercise a fair bit, so it's not actually that much.  And it helps get toxins that are no longer being held in my fat cells (or other cells) out of my body completely.

So that's how I'm detoxing at the moment!

Detoxing Part One

One of the big things that happened when I came off sugar was a massive detox. It really was pretty bad - much worse than I would expect given that my only vice for years HAS been sugar (and tea, though that's much less of a vice).

As I need to come back off the sugar soon, I need to find a way of not going into such a massive detox all at once.  My solution is to detox more moderately now, while still on sugar.  It's still difficult, I'm having issues with my blood sugar levels, and I find it really hard to do anything after about 7pm. But it is much, much better than before.

So, how am I doing this detox?

Welcome to part one: o more toxins in!

Quite frankly, when i started reading about this, I was surprised at the extent of toxins in our daily life.  I may never have smoked, but I do put on two deodorants every day - roll-on AND spray.  I wash my hair (aren't you glad) and use body wash.  I wash my hands up to 20 times in an hour for work, with soap every time.

All of the conventional versions of these products contain lots and LOTS of toxins. Some are famous (like parabens and sulfates) but others are less so.

One of the things you realise as a coeliac is that you can absorb gluten through your skin every bit as much as through your mouth.  Sure, you may not get the terrible stomach pain, but other effects are still going to happen. For me, this includes panic attacks, general anxiety, and fatigue. That's right, play-dough gives me panic attacks!

Just as you absorb gluten through your skin, you can absorb the chemicals in hygiene products through your skin. And boys, don't think you've got off easy - you still use deodorants, shampoo and body wash on a regular basis, as well as other products (like sunscreen) occasionally. Most of these will contain some toxins.

So I replaced mine. I didn't try and work out which were the most toxic and therefore should be replaced first, I replaced the ones I use most often first, and am slowly working my way down the list.

So deodorant got replaced first, followed rapidly by body wash. (I've used herbal toothpaste for years, as if I use conventional ones I get sensitive teeth.)  I still have my old soap at home, but I have an organic soap at work. I have organic, natural hand creams, and an organic shampoo.

I do still have other stuff to replace. I still have all my old make-up, for example. But I wear make-up only once or twice a month, so it's nowhere near as big of a deal as deodorant.

I really advise that you read the ingredients on any products you put on your skin - and even what you wash your clothes with.  Some people ARE more sensitive than others, but no one does well with aluminium sprayed on their lymph nodes.

This has actually made a big difference to me.  The dry patches on my hands are now just dry, and not red and bleeding, I don't cough when I spray my deodorant, and I am slowly detoxing, without the sudden and horrid effects of the first time!

And incidentally - cost wise most of these products weren't any more expensive than the hypo-allergenic ones I had to use anyway.  Some were much cheaper, as I was able to get a good deal from my local organics store.  I bought my (organic and all natural) spray deodorant for $5 at chemist warehouse!  So it can cost more, but it doesn't have to.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll post part two of my slower detox!

Orange and Almond Cake

Ingredients:
- 2 navel oranges
- 220g caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 6 large eggs
- 250g almond flour

Boil the whole oranges for 2 hours.  Don't skimp on this step, because less than 100% boiled oranges equals bitter oranges, equals a bitter cake.  And who wants that?

Blend the oranges into a pulp, then let them cool.

Seperate the eggs.  Mix the yolks with the sugar, baking powder, almond meal, and pulp.  Whisk the egg whites, and when they form soft peaks, slowly fold into the mix.

Pour into your chosen tin (approx 22 cm round tin), and bake for between 45-60 minutes at 180 degrees (160 if you have a fan forced oven)

Let the cake cool in the pan.

My verdict:
This cake was easy to make, but it took FOREVER!  Over 4 hours, though most of it wasn't active cooking time.  But the thing is, when I want cake, I want it pretty quick.  That's half the joy of baking, as far as I'm concerned.

So while it was delicious, it not high on my list of cakes to make again.

Pizza in Perth

Paul did a lot of research into places I could eat before I came, and one of the places he was told was suitable was Little Caesar's pizza place. Now if you know me, you'll realise that I love pizza, so I was thrilled to eat there!

They have a completely seperate menu for gluten free options, and all of their vegetaian pizzas were on the list! They also offered cheese that was advertised as lactose free, but is not only lactose free but completely dairy free!

I ordered the Farmers Market, which had chia seeds rolled into the base, and for the toppings had pumpkin, capsicum, zucchini, beetroot, gatlic, and parsley, along with their dairy free cheese (it also comes with yoghurt, but I just asked for that to be left off). And it was GOOD! In fact, Paul thought my pizza was better than his meat, dairy and glutenous pizza!

Little Caesar's is in three locations in Western Australuacurrently, but check their website for exact locations and opening hours.

Beetroot Soup

I'm not a huge fan of soup recipes normally. i like to make soup from all of the veggie that are left over at the end of the week. But a few are just so remarkablly delicious that you seek out all that you need for that dish.

For me, this is one of these soups!

Because it's a soup, vary amounts depending on what you have and to taste.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup pre-soaked split green peas
- Brocolini (1 bunch)
- Celery (3 stalks)
- Cauliflower (1/2 head)
- 3 beetroots, peeled
- Veggie or chicken stock (approx 1 litre)

Cook all of the ingredients together until vegetables are tender (this will vary greatly, depending on how small you chopped your vegetables).

Blend the soup, adding more water, stock, or salt to taste.

This soup goes brilliantly with the coriander pesto I posted earlier.

Easy Kale Chips

I don't know about you, but I like my food to be super fast and even easier. Or at least I like to have that option.

This food is exactly that! plus delcious, plus it helps you get some more leafy greens in your diet. What's not to love?

Grab a handful or two of baby kale. you can use full grown kale, but then you need to chop it, and who has time for that? Okay, I do, but still, baby kale is the way to go!

Put into a salad bowl, add some olive oil or coconut oil, salt, and whatever other flavourings you want (nutritional yeast! oh my goodness, so good! but you can add other herbs and spices as you would like)

Toss the ingredients so the kale is well covered. Spread on a tray lined with baking paper, and bake for 8 minutes at 180°.

Eat, and try not to eat the whole batch all at once! But if you do, just remember, it's healthy!

Sam's Ultimate Smoothie

I eat smoothies most days for breakfast. They're quick, easy, and the clean-up is a breeze. Oh, and did I mention that they're super easy to make gluten and dairy free, they're nutritous, and they taste GOOD?

Anyway, this is my ulimate smoothie:
- 1 banana
- 1 scoop of vital protein (vanilla)
- 1 tablespoon hulled tahini
- 1 taspoon vital greens
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 3 tablespoons raw cacao
- Milk alternative to blend (I like rice milk best, but use your favourite)

Blend and enjoy!

If it's not sweet enough, add honey to taste.

1. 

In Which I (attempt to) Quit Sugar and Caffeine, Detox, and Fall off the Wagon, and Plan Getting Back On

Sorry for the general quietness.  As those of you who know me will know, I have a lot of ongoing health issues (hence going gluten free and dairy free).

In addition, a while ago my grandmother had a nasty fall.  She has weak bones, and our doctor mentioned to my mum or my sister about getting them scanned.  Which was all my sister needed, because she has been desperate to buy one of those scannng scales for ages.  So she bought one.

She has weak bones.  My mum has weak bones.

Mine are worse.  Much, much worse.  As in, they weigh a third of what they should do.

Obviously this isn't good, and I need to work on building up my bone mass.  I already do a fair bit of weight bearing exercise (I run regularly, have a personal trainer who makes me lift weights, as well as other exercise), so I know that a big proportion of what I need to do will be diet related.

I've started liquid calcium supplements (liquid calcium is supposedly absorbed better), but I decided that I needed to get rid of my habits that were potential sources of leeching calcium from my bones.  I.e, I needed to quit sugar (sugar sugar, not honey, fruit or maple syrup, to be clear) and caffeine.  And being crazy, I thought I'd do them at the same time.

The caffeine was easy actually.  I don't drink coffee, just tea, so I switched my black teas for green teas and my green teas for herbal ones.  I had a few days of being tired and grumpy, but when they were over, it was all good.

Sugar, on the other hand... there's a reason there's a lot of "quit sugar" programs out there.  It's because sugar is crack.  So there are a whole lot of cravings, feeling like crap, nausea, and other things that go on.

Which would be bad enough.  I mean, lots of people fall off the bandwagon and get themselves some delicious red lollies.  I could cope with that.  But I also have a minor metabolism problem, meaning I go through energy much faster than the average person.  I require a lot of food, and I require a substantial proportion to be food that I can extract energy from quickly and with little effort.  Otherwise, I shake, vomit, and or faint.  It has nothing to do with insulin, so its not diabetes, I just burn energy faster than everyone I've ever met (excepting the few others in my extended family with the same issue).

So sugar isn't just a drug for me.  It's the drug that quite literally keeps me on my feet.  I can't just cut it out and expect to be oh-so-awesome.  I can cut it out and expect to be in hospital in a week.  I needed to replace it with something.

My replacement of choice was juice, a combination of fruit and vegetable juices.  I got out my old juicer, and started juicing away.  Carrots, oranges, apples, celery, tuscan cabbage, lemon, lime, grapefruit, kale, lettuce, cucumber... if it was around I would juice it.

Which led to me detoxing majorly.  You would think that given that I've never used illegal drugs, never smoked, rarely drink, rarely eat meat, don't eat dairy or gluten, and minimise my use of medications, that I wouldn't have that many toxins in my body.  You would be wrong.

I looked like a train wreck.  I felt only slightly better.  My skin came out in pimples everywhere, and the bags under my eyes wouldn't have been allowed as handluggage on a domestic flight.

It took a few days for me to realise what was happening, and then I went into action on finding ways to remove some of the toxins more quickly.  I settled on Bikram yoga (which I never thought I'd do, yoga is an alternative form of spirituality, but Bikram not only releases tons of toxins, it gets regularly criticised by yogis as not being 'real' yoga because it doesn't incorporate eastern spirituality in it.  Score!), and it helped.

And then I went to Perth.  I didn't fall off the wagon much, as Paul had arranged pretty much everything so that I would have as few issues with diet as possible (he's so great!).  I only had a few treats here and there - substantially less than the amount of sugar I normally would have.

But then I got back to Melbourne.  I had no groceries.  I had changed my work hours so I was working 4 days rather than 5, but longer hours on each of those days.  (And my day off was spent beautifully in Perth!).  I had no energy and no time.

I ate sugar.  Lots and lots of sugar!

I'm still off the caffeine, but back on the sugar.  I'm planning to come off again (and soon), but I'm going to come back off soon (next week is the plan, atm).  In the mean time, I'm doing a few things to make it easier for me when I do come off sugar again:

- I'm getting a better juicer
- I'm working on detoxing now
- I'm cutting back on sugar a bit
- I'm keeping off the caffeine
- I'm planning and prepping all my meals (for work especially) in advance


Hopefully this time it sticks, and I'll be sugar free with super strong bones in no time.

(PS, I still have a few sugary recipes to post, and I'll bake things for others using sugar.  So you sugar fiends will still have something to glean from the blog!)

Sam's Food Situation (and a recipe)

In case you didn't notice, I spent all weekend in sunny Perth with my wonderful guy, Paul.

The thing is, I spent all my money. Well, I have $70 left, but I'm prioritising dancing and at a pinch being able to get to work over such luxuries as food.

So I'm cooking from my pantry at the moment. Which doesn't sound too bad until you realise that I don't have any gf bread, pasta, or vegetables in the fridge.

Yes, that does make meals slightly more difficult for a gluten free, dairy free vegetarian.

Last night I made up white rice with stir fry frozen vegetables and satay sauce. and finished off the white rice, and satay sauce.

The bread also poses a problem. I have 2-3 slices a day at work with soup, and toast as a regular snack (with nut butter and honey or jam).

So I decided to experiment and make some rolls, and they're actually quite nice!

So here's my recipe for quinoa cheezy bread rolls:

- 1 cup plain gf flour
- 1 cup quinoa flour
- 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
- Nutritional yeast, about 1/3 cup, but more or less depending on preference (nutritional yeast tastes like cheese)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Water and rice milk, to blend

Mix together the dry ingredients, thrn blend together wirh the rice milk and water til you have a doughy consistency.

Break off into roll.shapes (I couldn't be bothered, and just made rough spoonfuls of the mixture) and bake at 200 degrees celcius for 30 minutes.

They're actually quite good - though maybe not with almond butter and jam!

Vanilla and Honey Chia Pudding with Banana

This is one of the easiest desserts to whip up - and the good news is that its so healthy that you can eat it for breakfast!

Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- Rice milk (or other 'milk' of your choice - coconut milk is great too)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla protein powder (I use Vital Protein, it's made from peas)
- Honey to taste
- 1 banana, chopped
- Cinnamon and nutmeg, as desired


Put the chia seeds in a large bowl, and cover to about twice their depth with your milk. Stir, and allow to thicken for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the protein powder, and stir through. Sweeten with a little honey.  You may need more milk, as chia seeds suck up a lot of liquid.

If you want the cinnamon or nutmeg, add them and stir through.  Top with the chopped banana, then drizzle again with honey to taste.

Eat and enjoy!

A note on chia seeds - these are awesome - high in protein, high in calcium, iron, and other minerals.

Eating Out in Perth

I'm in Perth this weekend, seeing my wonderful (he claims otherwise, but he greeted me at the airport with a green smoothie, a lily, and a raw activated organic kale salad, so clearly wonderful) boyfriend, Paul.

He planned to make me banana pancakes, but had forgotten the eggs, so we went out for brunch.

We ate at the Daily Planet Cafe (634 Beaufort st, Mt Lawley), and I was impressed at the mumber of options I had. Everything was labelled as to ehether it was gluten free, had a gluten free option, was vegetarian, vegan, or vegan option. Many others (including one that I ordered) were easily adaptable if you asked.

I had the vegan stack (chickpea pattie, avocado, mushrooms, grilled tomato, spinach and lots of other greens and tofu aoli) and the breaky crumble (pear, guava and other fruits with a crumble topping of almond, LSA, and chia seeds). Te breaky crumble was the 'adapted' one - the adaptation was to get the yoghurt that me with it n the side (so Paul could have it).

There were also options for those who aren't gf/df, so this is a great place to go with friends who aren't always willing to cater for dietty restrictions.

I

Both were really good, especially the vegan stack.

And to take away, I got a 'rawgasm', a raw slice that I might have photographed the ingredients so I can make on myself.

Delicious!

Cashew Banana Ice-Cream

Who doesn't like ice-cream? If you answered 'Me' then I'm sorry, we can't be friends.

Actually, if you don't like ice-cream, I'm not sorry.

However, if you are not allowed dairy or gluten, this does rather limit your ice-cream options. Which sucks.

To the rescue tomes raw desserts! in this case, raw cashew banana ice-cream!

This is INCREDIBLY easy.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 banana
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- Honey, argave syrup or maple syrup to taste (I used maple syrup)

First, soak 1 cup of cashews for 2 hours or
more. I put them on to soak efore leaving the house for work, and had them all ready for
when I came home.

Drain them, and they're all ready to use!

Once again, this is a super easy blender recipe. Put the cashews in the blender, and blend. Depending on your blender, it may take a while. 

Add the coconut oil and the banana, the your sweetener to taste. (Yay for tasting!)

Put your blend in a freezer safe container and freeze. Take it out and stir every 1/2 hour or so so that it doesn't freeze rock hard. However, if it does, all you need to do is put it in the microwave for 10 seconds.