After one month of travelling, not only did my body need a detox but my mind did too. Trips are not doubt tiring because you’re constantly thinking up places to go, planning things to do everyday and fitting as much in as possible - unless of course, it was a sun and sea kind of holiday where you just lazed around all day, which are my favourite but definitely not the kind of trips I had in the past month. I remember only a couple months back when I started living life in the little town Oestrich-Winkel, I was saying how everything around me seemed beautiful, there was no stress and I found myself growing more patient. But after a month of travelling to larger cities like Paris or London, coming back here almost seemed like a disappointment, I missed the rush and the adrenaline that pushed me out of bed at early hours to maximise my day. I came back and hated that feeling of realising that this wasn’t the town to be restless but honestly, I need to be thankful because this is a beautiful place to be. So essentially, I found that I lost patience and the “whatever attitude" from all this travelling. I was just mentally and physically tired. It’s simple to detox the body (relatively) with eating the right foods, resting right but what about the mind? Well personally, I have eased into a nice little routine for myself that calms my mind every morning and every night. It has brought me back into the mindset of knowing that sometimes you just got to slow down and remember that you can’t do everything in one go! Going at my own pace and enjoying the rest of my time here is probably my utmost priority at the moment. So when I was in Brighton, I actually bought two books from a little store along the beach by the The School of Life - Relationships and Small Pleasures. Trust me, I’m usually not the one to read mindfulness books or meditation books but these are just highly relatable books with short short chapters that take about 2 minutes to read. Relationships: As the title probably gives away, this book is about relationships. It doesn’t give you the regular 101 on the romantic side of a relationship but the more practical side of it and what happens behind every relationship. More importantly, this book tells you that love is not only an emotion that’s felt but also a skill thats to be learned, It takes you step-by-step through the key issues of relationships and highlights the importance of communication and how love isn’t just a matter of luck, which I think actually applies to all sorts of relationships in some form - touching on the art of acceptance through thinking of relationships differently and letting go of expectations that could in turn disappoints us, hence become more “easy-going". Small Pleasures: Contrastingly, Small Pleasures leaves you off on more of a positive note. It reminds you of the little things in life that make you happy. You might not actually see/feel those things on a daily basis but I feel like having a book like that to remind you of the joys is incredible because the chapters describes certain situations/environments so vibrantly that for the 2 minutes you are reading, you actually feel like you’re present in the moment. There are 52 “chapters” made for one small pleasure per week but I’m personally reading it everyday. Each chapter goes into so much detail and touches you by almost giving a reason to why something makes you smile. Small things aren’t openly talked about nowadays but something we all feel and unfortuantely sometimes forget. This book basically brings these moments of joy into consciousness, hence allows me to start my day on a positive note. So these two are books that I’ve been reading before going to bed (Relationships) and every morning when I wake up (Small Pleasures).
I just find that there’s something about reading that slows you down, makes you calm and at ease from the daily rushes of life. Plus, it’s definitely easy to incorporate a little bit of reading every night/day since books like these have chapters that literally take 2 minutes or less to read through. After a couple weeks of adding this to my routine, I have more or less come back to the "spirit of living in a small town", the patience has come back, the mood is boosted and my mind is rested enough to get cracking on the studying!
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Progress Shots - Week B How Do I Feel After Week 1? Although not much can be seen from the photos, after a week of trying out my new intermittent fasting diet, eating clean (wholesome nutrient dense foods) and just having the time to give my body a much needed break: 1. My energy levels are definitely back 2. Water retention levels have diminished 3. Bloating has significantly reduced 4. Hunger pangs and the need to be constantly eating has also been reduced with increased mental alertness What Am I Currently Working on?
What I eat in a day during this detox month Although I'm really not a chef or one to go out of my way to make extravagant meals, I find that if I have a few easy meals on hand I can whip up in 10 minutes, it's more likely that I would wait to cook and eat it when I am hungry, rather than have a snack before the particular meal gets cook up. So whenever I had the chance to stay at home and cook for myself this week, I have really taken the opportunity to play around. Below are a few of my favourite meals that I have gone back to this week and of course, I snack in between but haven't added those in, since my snacks generally don't require any cooking. First Meals My first meals that break the fast are usually at around 2:00pm and because I head to the gym at around 3:00-4:00pm this serves as my pre-workout meal, so hence there would be the presence of more solid forms of carbs. Rye break topped with avocado, shredded chicken (Flavoured with turmeric & black pepper) and a little sprinkle of cheese. On the side, I also have a serving of some wilted spinach. Whole wheat pasta mixed in tuna, avocado and cashew sauce (Blended Avocado and pre -soaked cashews). On the bottom I have some asparagus and just because I felt like it, I added a side of chickpeas as well. 2nd Meal of the day - Dinner Oven baked salmon fillet topped with turmeric, paprika and black pepper. On the side I have a stir fry of zucchini and asparagus with some chopped garlic. Along with this dinner, I have some peppermint tea, which I like to drink throughout the night since it really helps with digestion. Snack/Dessert Below is an example of something I would snack on or have as a dessert. A bowl of Skyr Icelandic yogurt that is high in protein, topped with fresh strawberries, half a banana, chia seeds, peanut butter and also a bit of cinnamon and maca powder. And, there goes my super food mix Spot a trend in my cooking?
1. I like to use very simple flavouring products and also make a conscious effort to incorporate my favourite anti- inflammatory super foods such as turmeric or cinnamon in whatever I'm having. 2. I personally also like having larger meals, which is why I utilise nutrient dense foods like green vegetables or fruits to bulk up my meals for that extra satisfaction after eating! It’s been about a week of playing around, understanding my body since coming back from my trips and four actual days into this ‘diet’ and I’ve come up with a few things that work for me. Before this week, I never knew what kind of eater I was, I never even gave eating patterns a second though and I just ate according to the time/around the clock…I was conscious of what I was putting in to my body but never listened to what it wanted. So after a little bit of mucking around and seeing what worked, here’s what I found: WHAT type of eater am i?
WHEN do I eat? Ultimately, I have found that if I listened to my body, Intermittent fasting actually works best for me. Intermittent fasting is essentially a conscious decision to fast and only eat during a certain period of time. This could range from 16hours to 24hours of fasting but personally, as a food lover/frequent visitor of the gym, I need to eat... so I opted for the 16 hours version of fasting BUT admittedly, I'm still new to the game and figuring out how this incorporates seamlessly into my schedule. So I'm currently fasting for about 14-15 hours only and trust me, I’m working my way up ;) The morning portion of it seems fine, where I don't start eating till 2:00pm but I just can't seem to bring myself to not have a little snack before bed at 11pm! WHY did I adopt this form of eating? 1. After actually listening to my body, I realised that I'm never hungry in the morning and all I have been doing is make myself eat because it was breakfast time 2. It solves the problem of bloating since it gives my body time to digest whatever is in my system 3. I get to eat more satisfying meals since the number of calories I'm supposed to consume is within a shorter window of time 4. This is actually helping me with the curbing of my hunger/"mind-eating” (when I WANT to eat rather than NEED to eat) because I am now more aware of my body's needs with the control needed during fasted periods HOW does it work?
Lesson learnt this week 1. Why you get hungrier after eating Eating generally pushes insulin levels up and therefore it's not uncommon to get hungrier after you have a meal.
Being in touch with your body and taking the time to listen to your body is much more important than I ever thought, it tells you what you really need and puts you more in control of your hunger, and I know as a snacker that this is incredibly important! Disclaimer: I am a business student. Aka, I am nowhere close to being a professional. Whatever I'm telling you here is what I've learnt through others/research/trial&error and is what works for ME. You've definitely heard this a million times before but bear in mind, every individual is different, take this as inspiration to figure out what YOUR body likes! |