Looking back to the beginning of our of wellness journey seven months ago, it all began with a decision to give up meat and cut out all processed foods laden with salt/preservatives from our diet and incorporating a proper exercise regime of going to the gym three times a week;
A few simple steps were crucial in adding to my life, namely learning to enjoy or at least tolerate cooking! neither myself or my hubby have ever particularly enjoyed cooking and found it more of a chore than anything else, but that has thankfully changed with our mindset and were actually loving cooking together and developing our meal prep menus.
Wellness Encompasses a healthy body, a sound mind, and a tranquil spirit. Enjoy the journey as you strive for wellness.” ~Laurette Gagnon Beaulieu
We decided to cut out meat and cow milk from our diet, and after researching meal prepping on all the fantastic Pinterest boards, I knew instantly that weekly meal prepping would work for us. We drew up some Veggie meal prep menu ideas and narrowed this down to around five main components, which I could never get bored with as I enjoy it too much;
A crucial part of changing my eating habits was making myself eat at least three meals a day including BREAKFAST. I was never a breakfast lover and could count on my hands how many times a month I would ever eat breakfast, and truth be told I would generally fast all day until dinnertime and crash.
I'm now an advocate of meal prepping and nightly breakfast prepping, as I feel this practical and straightforward cooking process is a real game changer!
“The food you eat can either be the safest & most powerful form of medicine…or the slowest form of poison.” ~Ann Wigmore
Diet / Meals
I've never had much of a sweet tooth, and my issues were to do with starving myself until dinnertime and then trying to fill myself up as quickly as possible. I have suffered from terrible IBS for years and decided this year I had to get this under control with trying to cut out as much bread as possible from my diet (which was a huge cause of this issue)
I do allow myself around four slices a week of gluten-free freshly made loaf over a weekend as I cannot give up my amazing hubbies poached eggs and avocado toast!!!
For my breakfasts (which I now eat daily) I stick to apple or banana overnight oats, with a dollop of dairy-free yoghurt or a pure berry or cinnamon apple breakfast granola with a green smoothie filled to the brim of veg and fruits such as kale/apple/pear/blueberries with a large heaped tbsp of Amazing Grass Green Superfood Powder which I whizz up it all in a blender with ice, which is so refreshing is extra filling.
I cannot start any day without a mug of black coffee, and we buy french pressed Starbucks coffee beans to enjoy at home. This has saved us a small fortune, which means I can put the money to better uses such as luxury goods haha.
All our fruit & veg is purchased from a weekly food market here in Dubai, and for all for all additional weekly essentials is bought from our local Organic Supermarket including our home cleaning products, deodorants, shampoos, toothpaste and washing powder as we no longer use anything not natural or organic. Friday morning is our food shop and meal prep day, and by 11 am were home starting our 3-hour meal prep stint. To get into the cooking zone, we make sure we're fed and watered and pop on one of the favourite records like Billie Holiday.
We're 100% vegetarian but not a vegan, as we do enjoy eating eggs and vegetarian cheese (no rennet for us) Our main proteins coms from three eggs each a week, alongside Quinoa, Chia Seeds, Brown Rice, Homemade Nut Butter, Asparagus, Avocado, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, Spinach and Sweetcorn.
Living in Dubai, most of us have free access to gyms and pools in your apartments or communities so we don't bother with a separate gym membership and enjoy the perks of our pretty quite community gym which overlooks the gardens and pool. My apple watch is great for tracking my daily move goals with a set move goal of 360 calories deficit, and I like to rotate my hour-long exercise between weights and the elliptical machine.
I do also add into my exercise routine, at least one outside walk generally between three to five miles usually go to our favourite beachfront and a morning weekend desert yoga session.
“Exercise to have fun and be healthy, not just to lose weight.”
My Personal Goals
Although I have done pretty well, I do have some more personal goals which I aim to crackdown -
Sleep is a biggie for me at the moment, and I am surviving on around six and a half hours which is not ideal. My barky Pomeranian Yorkshire terrier mix (who is easily disturbed) is breaking my sleep with a morning wakeup call at 5 am, and my goal is committing to eight hours of sleep with my earplugs inserted.
Tracking:
I'm a journaling addict, and with my new Louis Vuitton personal agenda I'm using this daily as a way of monitoring not only my habits such as sleep and water but my gym sessions and as a general creative outlet to vent and record my goals/reminders and thoughts. My aim is to commit to filling out my journal on a daily basis for one hour an evening.
Beauty /Skincare:
Now in my 30's I want to preserve my skin for as long as possible, I'm lucky enough to have great genes and aim to my skin fresh and youthful for as long as possible so want to focus on three step rule of cleansing, toning and moisturising.
Hydration:
My water intake does have to get better, my aim is to drink two to three litres of filtered water a day to help my kidneys flush out toxins. I picked up plenty of herbal teas which are great for increasing fluid intake and assist in the cleansing process.
“Being healthy and fit isn’t a fad or a trend, it’s a lifestyle.”
PRO TIPS
These simple tips have helped stick to my goals and aided me and wanted to share what has kept me motivated for seven months :1. Calorie counter app - I downloaded a free daily calorie counter and used this for the first five months to track my eating habits and keep me motivated to eat a set three meals a day with two sets of healthy snacks. I no longer daily calorie count as I stick to the same type of balanced meals each day and generally don't deviate so know exactly a good guesstimate of my daily calorie intake.
2. Invest in a smartwatch with built-in exercise tracker - Having the ability to accurately measure performance in the gym or daily move goal is essential and will inevitably increase your movement and incentivise you to keep going to match or beat your own set personal goals. Invest in a smartwatch or Fitbit to help track your movement and gym sessions and keep a daily reminder of how you are performing.
3. Setting personal goals and tracking them -
Writing down your own goals is therapeutic and extremely useful in having a visual reminder to help motivate you!! I use my LV agenda to track my move/exercise and the meals I eat each day, which allows me to stay focused on my wellness journey. Having this document is a great reminder, and when I began this health initiative, I purchased an inexpensive large A5 agenda and again left my myself morale-boosting messages // goals // track my habits and list my meals and movements per day all followed from my smartwatch.
4. Cutting out shi# from your life - Whether it be processed food/meat or sugars from your diet, reducing all the late nights or even cutting out as many negative people from your life (as possible) I recommend cutting some bad things from your life;
Remember wellness is not only about your physical health its also about your mental health too and although not entirely possible to remove everything negative thing from your life, at least try and limit or reduce the airtime that badness gets and let some quite peace enter your life!
5. Wellness is not a number on the scales - Wellness is more than losing weight or weight gain and really shouldn't be your only goal in your journey! Losing weight will happen naturally if that's one of your goals, but the main message is knowing what you may need to be changed, removed or incorporated into your lifestyle, in order to be the best version of you!
“Embrace and love your body. It’s the most amazing thing you will ever own.”
Overall we're feeling great, and all these changes are permanent lifestyle changes which are working for us. I highly recommend finding what works for you and stick to it, to get to where you want to be for 2019 and beyond.
Good luck on all your journeys and let me know your goals and tips for a Healthy 2019
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