What are we really eating!

In the modern world that we live in I find myself always on the go, unfortunately I need to work, thankfully my kids are old enough to fend for themselves. I sometimes feel sad that we don't all have tea together but at the weekend we try make the effort on a Saturday night to sit around the table and eat and chat. I am the only one who eats low carb/Paleo but when I make food I cook it so we can all eat it. I make simple adjustments like they will have fajitas I will have my food in lettuce. It can be hard sometimes but my kids have got used to me not eating how they eat. I do encourage them to leave out Carbs as much as possible but they are old enough to make their own food choices. I just hope I can lead by example. One thing that annoys me is I make a choice to eat a certain way for me it has been low carb for a long time, but increasingly I noticed my progress slowed even stalled. Then I started looking at foods and looking at the ingredients. Thankfully in the UK by law they have to fully label the packaging with all ingredients. So you would think that when buying say Garlic Butter it would contain the ingredients Garlic and Butter, right? WRONG It contains Butter (75%) , Onion (10%) , Parsley (5%) , Garlic (3%) , Salt , Potato Starch , Tapioca Starch , Herbs , Pepper , Citric Acid , Natural Garlic Flavouring . Now the herbs and pepper and salt I can understand a bit of seasoning can enhance the product. But if it has garlic in it why then do we have to have natural garlic flavouring? Which I'm guessing is anything but natural. Why also does it have to have potato starch and tapioca starch? Ok so I want to buy some pre cooked chicken for convenience! If it is just plain chicken it contains stabilisers like triphosphates which supposedly keeps it moist. However if I want to add flavouring to that chicken that open up a minefield of additives! At home if making chilli chicken we'd add chilli, maybe some lemon, onions and peppers, salt and pepper And spices for seasoning. Buy it ready made and the food companies don't feel that that is enough. They think our taste buds need more. Most people have grown so accustomed to just accepting the flavour of food that they never look at what is really in the food they have eaten. In ready made chilli chicken the ingredients are as follows.... Cooked Chicken* , Sugar , Honey , Paprika , Modified Maize Starch , Salt , Rice Flour , Potato Starch , Chilli Powder , Cornflour , Stabiliser (Triphosphates) , Dextrose , Chillies , Natural Flavourings , Herbs [Marjoram, Parsley, Sage, Thyme, Oregano, Basil] , Vegetable Oil , Rosemary Extract , Maltodextrin , Colour (Paprika Extract) , * Made with 99g of raw Chicken per 100g of finished product . One of the first ingredients you will notice is sugar! When we cook at home who would ever think of cooking their chicken in sugar, but look at ingredients on pre packaged food and again and again sugar appears. If people choose to eat sugar that is fine they can choose to eat sugar in there foods but why take that choice away from the majority of people by putting it in everything. Most people have on their table salt and pepper, when I cook I don't use salt I let people add it at the table. Does this now mean I have to have the sugar bowl on the table for people to sprinkle on their food. As a young mum with two small boys I was always proud that I never gave my children ready made baby food. I knew from researching that one of the leading baby food producers used fillers in the food similar to the same ingredient in wallpaper paste. I also knew that nutritionally I would need to give my baby 6 jars for him to receive the correct amount of nutrients for one meal. I made the food myself usually from our meal the previous evening and blended it. After the cruise last year I realised that even with my busy life I have to choose my foods more carefully. I have moved towards Paleo I still eat low carb but by eating Paleo I do not eat processed food. If it lived or moved I eat it as long as the food industry hasn't got it's hands on it. But my relationship with food is a lifelong struggle and I realised today that often I miss out on vital nutrition because I am scared to eat!! I am also increasingly aware that even the good food choices I make may also be lacking in nutrients. So I am still learning and progressing in my journey, I try not to focus on my weight loss but on my glucose levels. With the increase in type ii diabetes you would think that the food companies would realise they are not helping in this. Only this week our government are trying to get leading food companies to cut the calories in their products, here is an article. I often think people should have the right to choose what they eat but when lots of the unhealthy ingredients are in foods that really don't need to be there, then I think these companies have a responsibility to the public. So when thinking you need to be watching what you eat, you really should look a bit harder at what is being put into your food. Even when choosing a healthier option they may not actually be healthy!

Absent minded ramblings of a pillion rider!

Today I spent most of the day trying to make some sort of organisation out of the chaos we are living in at the moment! Chris went to help a friend doing some building work, he returned home about 5 and said we're off for a bike ride to Willingham Woods. This is a well known bikers spot with a hut that sells hot drinks. So I donned my bike gear which makes me look and feel like Michelin man, but safety first right! As we set off I get a buzz of excitement, which very soon turns into a feeling of tranquility. When on the back of the bike I cannot be contacted by phone and I have a break from the world. As we speed up the only sound I hear is the wind whistling through my flip face helmet. It can be noisy but it's almost a soothing sound likened to White noise. I started thinking how long have I been going on motorbikes? Well my first memory was going on the back of my dad, I would be about 4 and a half, my dad used to pick me up from school on his Yamaha step through Scooter. I would just hang on to my dad, as I recall it was before helmets were legal in the UK, which was in 1973. Today I would never consider not wearing a helmet, the only time Chris and I have not worn a helmet is following a funeral corsage of a fellow biker, the police even gave us an escort and told nobody to put helmets on but we were following a horse and carriage at about 10-15 mph. Today was the perfect day to be on the motorbike, it was sunny and fairly warm, the verges were lined with golden yellow daffodils and the sky was clear. Normally while on the back of the motorbike I make pictures in the clouds, once I saw a cloud formation which looked like The Starship Enterprise! I wish I'd taken a photo lol. I love sitting back and taking in the scenery, although often it is a flash past. Lincolnshire boasts some of the best biking roads in England, I live close to the Lincoln Wolds, they are the highest point on the east coast between Yorkshire and Kent. They are full of rolling green hills and arable farming, and when on the high point give outstanding views. Getting on the back of a motorbike requires a lot of trust in the rider as your life is literally in their hands, on the back of Chris I completely relaxed. I once even fell asleep coming back from Scarborough. As we twist and turn along the country lanes I am very aware of the peace I get from being on the back, I do not need to concentrate on staying upright as my body bends and moves with the bike. I notice a field of Friesian Cows and think how lovely it is to see them roaming free grazing on the grass, in spite of the smell of the fresh country air! On the motorbike you do get a sense of feeling more at one with nature. We stopped at Willingham Woods, this is close the the race course at Market Raisen famous for Horse Racing. The town has lots of houses built in the style of Tudor times! We stand chatting, usually the men talk about motorbikes and I people watch, this is one of my favourite past times. I noticed a family with five children the first child who obviously was not related was nice and slim and looked healthy. The sibling however siblings however were all very obese. One of the girls face, she was about 8, was so overweight that her skin looked very red and shiny, in 15 minutes she ate 2 hamburgers and a packet of potato chips then a high sugar drink. This saddened me seeing this, as parents are we not meant to do the best by our kids! I had to turn away as I could not stand to see it any more! Getting back on the bike to return home the sky was beautiful, the sun was starting to set, all the way home it was like we were chasing it before it disappeared. It truly was a lovely night. Just coming out of Brigg I looked up and saw a plane with a long vapour trail, I got a warm feeling thinking this time in 6 weeks we will be setting sail for our annual low carb cruise. As we entered our town and stopped at the 3 way traffic control at roadworks I was acutely aware that my brief respite had ended. My irritation returned as we waited what seemed like an eternity, oh well it was nice while it lasted. We came to the top of the hill we come down to reach home and I looked at the wonderful view, the sun was just setting and there was a light mist over the ground in the distant fields. This made the view even more fantastic and I looked across the expanse in awe and though what a beautiful country we live in and what a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday evening. I am truly blessed.

Sorry for Absence, building in progress!

I realise it's been a while since I last blogged, thought I'd update and try sort myself out into a routine. We have been very busy in the last 7 months. Being 2 families moving into one house, yes a difficult concept really. Made me realise how much I compromise, which is a good thing isn't it? Some days I wondered and I'm ashamed to admit it, I had tantrums along the way, especially when going to the tip and lots of my stuff was being just tossed away. One day I was ranting so much, I thought to myself, when one of the guys from the tip came over and asked if I was alright! Did I stop with embarrassment? No! I just carried right on ranting. Thankfully the guy thought I was amusing to say the least! Any of you who knows Victor Meldrew will understand how I was ranting (YouTube him).

Our plans to expand the house finally got underway and Chris started his hard work. He amazes me how he is driven to just keep working, he does a full days work then comes home and gets straight on with the building work. Thankfully the boys were willing helpers and with team work good progress was made. we now have a dormer on the rear aspect of our house. Work has slowed a bit due to cowboy roofers and money but the external work is at least finished.

October was a sad month as my cousin and sister in law both lost their lives to cancer, it made me realise we don't see family enough! People often knock Facebook, but I am thankful for it as I can keep in touch with my family and friends more easily.

After Christmas I started my usual panic as the cruise countdown started, I needed to sort my body out. Although I have maintained my weight I needed to take it up a notch to try shift a few more pounds, yes my health is more important than the weightloss but I want to be fitter. With some wise words of encouragement from one of my very best friends I was able to give myself a kick up the backside. This is now my lifestyle and this time next year I will not need this panic as I will already be living a stable way of eating!

I joined our new leisure complex, The Pods, it was built last year although it looks quite impressive it still has quite a few teething problems! On our cruise last year we met Monique Le Roux Forslund her blog is called LifeZone she introduced me to Zumba. To be fair her session was not my best as I had climbed a waterfall in Jamaica the day before and could barely move my legs. But watching Monique made me realise this is something I think I would love to do. In the UK Zumba has just started to become popular so I now find myself doing 4-5 sessions a week! I'm at the point where I miss it when I don't do it so gonna set up the Wii this weekend and do it at home also.

My relationship with food has improved, I no longer see it as my downfall, it is there purely for nutrition and I no longer feel it has a hold on me. I still get that little voice in my head at times but I ignore it. I think as long as I keep up with the Zumba and other exercise I'm doing, it keeps me at a good emotional level to keep going. I try not to focus on my weight coming off but more on my sugar levels, they are coming down nicely and I want them to be at normal for the cruise! I am more energetic now and although I feel tired I think it is a good tiredness. I often come home from work and do not feel I can summon the energy to do a workout, but as soon as that music starts I'm away and really enjoying my session.

So I'm back and will be blogging at least once a week from now on, but you never know it may become another on of my obsessions x

I wonder where these people get their info!!

I am so pleased we don't all think like this.

This article is saying low carb isnt a long term solution well i beg to differ, and so will a lot of my friends.

It always amazes me how misinformation is put out there and sasly people believe this.

Take a read for yourself.

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/logout/news_features/lowcarbdiet.htm

It makes for amusing reading lol

Interesting Article taken from The Daily Mail

This article just shows what we are up against with diet info here in the UK. When it comes from 'experts' whom we are suppose to trust, you'd think they would be right, well how wrong can they be I'm hoping somewhere along the way we will be given the correct info and no more lies!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1247216/The-Big-Fat-Lies-Britains-obesity-epidemic.html.

Yes people have the freedom to find out for themselves what is the correct way to eat but when that information is coming from the FSA(food standards agency) this is the voice of our government and people respect that advice, well after all why would we question it?

More and more people are doing research that proves how effective LC/HF is.

Despite a very difficult weekend I stuck to plan!

This weekend was Bank Holiday Weekend, it is traditionally a time for enjoying families or planning a weekend away. We were without the kids this weekend so Chris and I just planned time to ourselves. We decided to go to Lincoln just to browse around the shops. Our first stop was Starbucks, Chris's favourite coffee place! We sat down, well I actually sat and claimed a table while Chris got the drinks, I had Americano with pouring cream which I was thrilled with! I picked up my iPad and logged into Facebook, I had a message from Nikki my friend in London. It was telling me to ring her mum Lynda, my initial thought was ooh maybe she's getting married, I couldn't get through on the phone so messaged Nikki back saying I couldn't get through and I hoped everything is ok. She responded telling me to just keep trying, I gave a look at Chris which more or less told him I was worried! I really didn't want to make that call as thought it would be bad news. As I was calling I thought maybe it was her mum, she'd need support! I had to go outside as it was too noisy. You know sometimes you are in a situation usually a bad situation you go into that surreal slow motion, this was happening. Lynda asked if I'd been on her Facebook page and read her status, now I felt sick, I told her no. She then informed me her youngest child Michael had been killed, he was 16, in fact it was the day before his 17th birthday. He was walking across a pedestrian crossing when a bus came through at speed and knocked him over. I just stood in the carpark of Starbucks breaking down, people were sat there just going on with there day as normal. I felt so desperate and just in so much pain, pain as a mother imagining what my poor friend must be going through. A pain I could only just begin to imagine how it would feel to lose a child, a pain no mother should ever have to feel. I was so sad as Michael was one of those happy children with a beautiful spirit. He had a wicked sense of humour and he always had a smile on his face when I saw him. I hadn't seen him for a few years but was still in contact with the family! Only a few weekends a go I was discussing with Lynda the usual motherly things, how our kids are doing, how well Michael was doing and he'd just started working. We were saying how time flies, I've know Lynda for 11 years and yes time does fly. I felt guilty and still feel guilty that I hadn't made more effort to go and visit them, how we all get wrapped in our own little worlds, we get so busy that we never seem to find time to stop and pay friends a visit.

When I came off the phone I felt a big overwhelming need to phone Ben, to hear his voice and know he was ok, I told him about Michael, while growing up they had spent time together usually discussing playstation as kids do. I couldn't speak to Luke as I felt I had to protect him from my emotions, having Aspergers makes it difficult for him to understand emotions and he can also get distressed when he sees or hears me crying.

This weekend I have felt lost and raw, I've been thinking if this is how I'm feeling then Lynda must feel a million times worse. How can you ever recover from anything like this, people say it gets easier but how can losing your child get easy.

Today we went out to East Kirkby to an aviation museum, we had a really good day, looking around I could see lots of families having fun and enjoying the day. Then I would just stop again and think of Lynda, and Nikki and Kim (Michael's sisters) probably all feeling a sense of loss that they could not comprehend, a sense of injustice.

Knowing how I am with food and my emotions and being at risk of eating the wrong things I made a batch of sugar free meringues and some oopsies, I bought some cream and whipped it up. I had some to eat but it wasn't out of this need to stuff my face, I just had some and enjoyed them. But to be honest I think if I hadn't made them I couldn't be bothered I felt flat emotionally and had no interest. This believe me is a first.

I had a Skype chat with Jimmy Moore on Saturday, I was feeling frustrated over my weight gain, he was there for me, after a very difficult day it was good to hear a friendly voice, he had no idea what I was going through emotionally. We discussed my food and what could be the possible cause of my stall in weightloss and Jimmy gave me tips on adding more fat to my diet. It was good to talk to him he gave me some great tips and I came off the chat feeling more positive, I am no longer concerned with my weight coming off although yes it would be a bonus. I feel a million times better in my physical self and I know my blood sugar has reduced drastically. I must take a reading actually so I have a real idea of how I am doing.

My goal for next week is to try go without 'comfort' food, even though I know I am eating stuff that is allowed, I am going to try reduce that need to eat indulgently. But I am recognising that I've done well this weekend in staying away from bad foods and that is a big achievement for me. I also recognised that chewing gum could be what is stalling my weight, it has 62g of carb per 100g, yes I know it would take a lot of sticks to get through 100g, but I feel it is one of the causes.

This week I will not have gum and hard cheese and just monitor on Friday if it makes a difference, but I am at the stage where I'm not really bothered about weightloss anymore. I also bought Zumba for the Wii so I'm going to try that out tomorrow afternoon. I met a personal trainer who does sports massage who recommended resistance training so may book some sessions with her just to get me going.

Remember your kids are precious even when they are being annoying, treasure each moment.

20 days sugar free and low carb

Well I have to say I think I am doing well and have given myself a pat on the back, I have survived 20 days sugar free!

How has my journey been so far, well you will know if you've been following.

Week 1 I felt really ill, I was dealing with jet lag and detoxing, was it worth it? Oh yes. I lost 4 pound in that week and felt pretty good by the end of it. My headaches had gone and I was no longer waking up with a hangover feeling (the effects of high blood sugar).

Week 2 I was feeling more energised and positive, on the Wednesday I had mixed seafood with cream cheese, didn't realise the crabsticks were full of crap! This was enough to give me an increase of 2 pound. Did I feel like giving up no, although I a weak moment but thankfully just one, I got straight back on track. Lesson learnt READ THE LABELS!

Week 3 Well I'm almost at the end of it, I feel great, I have more energy, I'm less bloated and my rings are looser. I know longer feel my life is ruled by food, am I cured? Well today yes I am and I take it day by day. Do I get tempted? Yes I still do but I look at cakes and such and think no I don't want them as I know that one slip could just be the time when I'm back at square one and I really don't want to go there ever again. Yes I want to be at a stage where if I'm offered a cake and I could think ok I'll have one please enjoy it then not think of eating more. Somehow at the moment I don't feel that will happen. I've had a gain yet again +1 pound which is so frustrating, funny thing is this time I don't feel angry enough to go off plan, I know this way of eating works for me but just need to tweak the foods that personally affect my weightloss.

So when I get some answers I'll lett you know!