Only one piece of the puzzle

Last week I was praised by a personal trainer I met at the Women’s Health “Are You Game?” weekend. He asked what type of resistance and cardio I do as my muscle mass in relation to my weight was FANTASTIC (happily modest about that), my body’s hydration was GREAT, and my metabolism is the quickest it could ever be – for anyone.
“Keep doing what you’re doing!” he said. And I left rather happy with myself.

But later on as I reached for the tissue box to dry my runny nose, it made me think…

What about the rest of this human body I walk around in??

Physically I am in the best shape I’ve ever been in. But I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a FITNESS JUNKIE and I’m at the gym or training outside everyday. I LOVE it, but I also know that in the past I have put my health second to my fitness.

So as the weather is getting cooler down in the southern hemishere and my first RAW WINTER is approaching I’m starting to see how important it is to look after myself properly. Nutritionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically.

I’m watching what I eat – making sure I get enough nutrients, vitamins and minerals by varying my diet and spicing it up a bit. Loads of TASTY FRUITS, plenty of brightly coloured VEGGIES and leafy GREENS. Lemons, limes, ginger, garlic and chilli, tumeric root. And trying my best to JUICE DAILY; it's like my multi vitamin pill :)

I’m drinking plenty of water (minimum 2L a day), and have at least one warm herbal tea each day. I like to mix it up a bit too; dandelion when my liver is feeling sluggish, peppermint when my tummy is sore, green for a pep up, nettle for flushing toxins, rooibos for digestion…

I make sure I get enough sleep, take my Naturopathic herbs, and on top of that I’m taking Pure Radiance Vitamin C powder. Vitamin C is one of the immune systems most POWERFUL weapons. 1-2 grams per day for cold prevention is good, but as I am already suffering I'm 'SATURATING' my body's tissues ensuring any virus wont survive and taking much more. Fortunatley Vitamin C is one of the least toxic substances known to humans and the only possible side effect is loose bowels!

But I do need to remember to continue with all my good work so I don't get caught up with my fitness-gym-junkie who can innocently sabotage my good health.

So, as the weather down under gets colder, have a look at what you're eating and drinking, how much physical activity you're doing and how much sleep you're getting. Be honest with yourself and see if any changes need to be made in the name of self love and looking after YOU.

Get ya juice on!!

In the past I've been more of a smoothie girl. I had read about all the benefits of JUICING but I still couldn't get into it (only when one's really ready right?). Well my time has come! I've been JUICING everyday for the past week or so and I CAN'T GET ENOUGH! I'm LOVING IT!!

So now that I'm a convert, I'll preach a bit :)

JUICING, obviously, is not the same as BLENDING (I get that now). Don't hear me wrong - blending is still a FANTASTIC addition to anyones diet, but is not a replacement for juicing. WHY? Because juiced foods have all the fibre and solids removed making it EXPONENTIALLY easier for your body to absorb all the nutrients - with maximum speed and efficiency, and minimum effort from the digestive system! Every bit of nourishment can then be used to REGENERATE rather than digest (and for those of us that are on a journey to learn all about our digestion issues, and to help them function better - JUICES ARE A GOD SEND).


But be warned about that beer-like frothy head!! Ideally, you don't want this. I strain my juice, strain again, and strain again, then pour it into a big tall glass (and a little extra one) ready to drink. I do this so my LIQUID VEGIE JUICE is as LIQUID as it can be. Sounds ridiculous hey? Well here's the scoop; that frothy head is SOLID in comparison to what's beneath it. To drink juices that still have the pulp present would be MORE taxing on your digestion than it would be to eat and properly chew all those fruits and vegies in their solid form. And then you're in for digestion upsets! If there is ANY fibre present in your 'meal' (think smoothies), chewing is necessary to prepare the stomach for digestion (I'm sure you all know someone who doesn't chew their food well enough and wonders why they always have tummy troubles).
Heard the line "drink your food, chew your juice" ... a rather odd one in my opinion anyway, haha, but I get where they're going with it.

You want the purest VITAMIN - MINERAL - RICH - ELIXIR you can get!

(Beetroot obviously...then... lemon, ginger, loads of greens... I can't remember what else!)

On a RAW FOOD DIET, juicing is extremley important in order to get sufficient nutrients; they're like the missing puzzle pieces.
Even if you're a meat eater, green vegie juices will do you wonders! Try drinking a green vegie juice before your meaty meal. By lowering your body's pH from a more acidic state to a more alkaline state, green juices will conteract the acidic animal protein and put your body back into balance. Beautiful! (and you might find you want meat less... well there's my little wish anyway)

GREEN JUICES ARE A BEAUTY SECRET says Matt Monarch. I truley believe this now. I feel FANTASTIC, my acne is clearer, my eyes are brighter... I'm a juicing groupie. Loud and PROUD.

(This one had 3 small apples, 3 carrots, 1/2 lemon, a big chunk of ginger, 6-8 big Chinese broccoli leaves, and 3-4 stems of celery - leaves and all)

The benefits of JUICING could easily fill a book (and there's loads of proof already out there). I did go into a little detail with you guys (as I'm a brand new groupie with so much excitement around this topic!!), but to be as straight to the point as I can be;

TRY IT YOURSELF!

For me - it's cause and effect. I didn't need to know all the scientific research stats - I did know them and that still didn't start me juicing until now. But I tried it. I only had to try it. I put it to you also - try a VEGIE JUICE everyday for a week and get back to me on how you feel :)

As for what you can do with all that left-over fibre rich juice pulp... you'll have to wait til the next post ;)