Chocolate and Beyond

I love the fact that I only ever buy butter!

It's true, I do ONLY ever buy butter! It just occurred to me when I did my shopping today that I now automatically reach straight for pure butter, without ever weighing up the differences between the various low-fat spreads in terms of calories and fat content. This has been going on more or less since I began my intuitive eating quest and gave up dieting almost 10 months ago (wow wee, that long?).

I do not purchase any olive spreads, any low-fat margarines, and definitely no yukky tubs of hydrogenated oils barely disguised as something edible. And amazingly, there has been very little difference in my weight then, compared to now, from what I can gather - I'm still wearing all the same size 10-12 clothes, put it that way.

Fitness on Friday

I had my penultimate session with David Brownley today - no boxing on this occasion and less time on the treadmill, but yet another good workout pour moi. The session included some weight-training in the bench and abdominals- I was feeling the ache in both afterwards, but not to the extent of my first session! It was probably 'just right'.

David told me about quite an amazing piece of research where there were two groups of subjects, one group was instructed to lay in bed and not think about exercise at all, whereas another group was told to think about exercising all the time. The group who were thinking about exercise had 18-20% more improved fitness than the control group!

Not hungry but...

The post that I wrote on a perspective on eating what you want sparked a real debate and some lengthy and thought out comments, and it was clear this topic raised some considerations for us all.

A recent comment has just been added from poster Not Hungry But... who, being a few more years down the line with intuitive eating than myself and most of the people who read this site (I think!), has clearly got a lot of experience.

My fighting spirit

Last Friday I had my third fitness session with David and it was definitely my favourite so far, even though it was also the hardest physically. The reason behind this was that we finished the session doing some boxing/pad work - and I loved it!

Talk about pent up aggression - David said he could see it in my face how much I was getting out of punching those pads! But I had had some stresses to go through that week (although I have to admit, they didn't affect me anywhere near as much as equivalent stressors used to).

I feel good (I knew that I would)

Yesterday I had my personal fitness session with David and I've woken up today not only feeling physically intact (phew), but I have to admit, feeling pretty good.

We had a good chat about why I was so out-of-action in the week. I'll make no bones about it, it basically comes down to me being about as fit as Bernard Manning, and although I'm making a huge assumption on Bernie's level of muscle-training, I'd take a fair bet that it isn't high. (Of course, David didn't say that to me - I'm letting my writer's prerogative for artistic license run wild. Imagine? David: "Do you know, you're about as fit as Bernard Manning?" Me: "Ah. I see your point.").

Beyond Bliss: for women looking for Zen without the om

Want to do a retreat but put off by the menu of pond water posing as Miso soup? Or is it a sharp taste of incense that you fear and don’t want to choke on?

Beyond Bliss is a unique holiday concept for women seeking retreat-type breaks and guess who's behind it? Little ol' me and my pal Barbara Ford-Hammond. With Beyond Bliss, there is no expectation to abstain from the local vino or be wound up into weird and wonderful contortions that are near impossible to undo.

Instead, on the glorious Cycladic island of Andros, the 5-night holiday-retreats will help women rediscover equilibrium in their lives with a distinctive programme of activity and workshops.

Getting my oats

It's been a few months since I began to severely restrict carbohydrates and sugar in my diet in order to ease off the yeast problems I was having, and I have to admit, I didn't always 'stick to the rules' (because after all, who needs rules? They drive you crazy).

The sinus symptoms I used to have though have been pretty clear for a good 2-3 months - it is quite amazing how diet can have such a profound effect on your life. Obviously, something must have been out of balance for some time - probably the fact that I had spent so many years eating a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet in order to control weight (low-fat, high carb diets are very linked to initiating candida problems).

I hurt - a mighty lot

Now, I don't just ache, or have slightly sore muscles, but I have actually been physically incapacitated from my personal fitness session on Monday! My legs have barely been able to take me up and down stairs because the front of my thighs hurt that much. Seriously. I had all the grace of a hippo being seated at the opera trying to get into my car.

While it's a good sign that I've worked out, I kind of think maybe a bit too much? Or am I just incredibly unfit? I had to have my son fetch and carry for me last night because it was (and still is!) just so hard for me to get about - and the dog had to have a shorter walk on a flat and less arduous route with with no hills, since I'm kind of shuffling like an old lady.

Slimming World no longer does diets (apparently)

According to Slimming World, diets are a thing of the past (their past). On their website they say:

"Diet? Why? If you ever read a newspaper or switch on the TV, you’ll know that the UK is in the middle of, what the media have termed, an ‘obesity crisis’. So it’s no wonder that the bookshops are filled with diet titles and slimming magazines, and every celebrity is endorsing their ‘rabbit food’ diet plans!

"At Slimming World, DIET is a four letter word! And if you’ve had your fill of these “off and on eating regimes”, if you’re fed up of going to bed early because you’re hungry - and if you never want to think ‘dare I eat that’ ever again - you’ve come to the right place!"

My first personal fitness training session - I'm jelly

Oh. My. God.

It is approximately 3 and a half hours after I finished with David (or should I say, after he finished with me?) and I can barely sit on the loo, never mind get up and down my stairs. In fact, my legs nearly buckled as I went to my car after leaving the Cenacle Treatment Centre, where David is based.

I spent an hour working out to a point that I would never have pushed myself to had I been doing it alone - because the few times I've tried any muscle training, as soon as it gets past comfortable, I'm ready to 'go easy', (or to be honest, just stop). Of course, with David counting every repetition I did, unless I was honestly considering a 999 call, there was no wimping out.