Day 81 - 87

Weight: 12 stone 11 lb

Lost: 1 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 2 stone 4lb

I've been taking a break from the blog - as you've probably noticed. Not because I've gone off my diet but because there's only so much I can say about smoothies and salads...and my life isn't exactly 'edge-of-your-seat' stuff so it was getting a little boring to write...let alone read.

For these reasons, I've decided to just do a blog twice a week from now. 

I would like to talk about my diet. I'm still high raw but I have incorporated some vegan  cooked food (including some boiled eggs), which has slowed my weight-loss down dramatically...thus only losing a pound this week, which has been an interesting experiment as if I want to lose weight more quickly, I've discovered that I only have to up the raw and lower the cooked food intake. It's lovely to have that control over your body, which I feel I didn't have before.

I'm off the alcohol...again (!) as this is a real detriment to me losing weight. It totally sabotages my whole being, willpower, thought process and  emotions. So again I have sworn off the alcohol....and this time I mean it. If I drink again then I'm just stupid, that's the conclusion I've come to!

I have the whole of April, May and June to lose 2 more stone if I'm going to hit my target of losing 4 stone in 6 months. This is quite achievable, however I do feel it's not going to be as easy as the last 2 stone, but it's up to me to make it happen.

You will be happy to hear that I have become obsessed with going to the gym, working out 3-4 times a week, doing lots of CV work and lifting some pretty impressive weights. It's amazing how going to the gym makes me feel so much better overall and my body even feels younger. Due to the hard work that I'm doing in the gym, I find that I'm very hungry when I get back home and I regularly consume a hemp seed milk, banana and green leaves smoothie. Every other day I also cook myself some rice and now and again I will boil an egg (which have been kindly laid by my chickens) for my protein and B12.

Today I went off down to Fuengirola to visit my very favourite restaurant at the moment, Vegetalia. We didn't get there until about 2.15 p.m. and the restaurant was packed, with people queuing out of the door! Luckily we only had to wait 15 minutes for a table. It's so good to see a veggie restaurant doing really well and it's nice to see a variety of young and old people enjoying tasty veggie/vegan food.

I have to put my hands up and admit that again I had 3 platefuls but the third plate I only ate half because I was feeling guilty for consuming so much food...so I let my partner finish it off!

Hot dishes today were:

Brown pasta gratin with vegetables and soya

Vegetable 'meatballs'

Rice with almond flakes

Vegetable curry

Hot food selection

Salad selection...and yes I ate both dishes!

Being Mothers Day tomorrow, I'm taking my parents over to Nerja to a bar that a couple of friends of ours have just taken over and they are laying on a Sunday roast which includes my famous vegan nut roast recipe... so Sunday will be a non-diet day, as you've probably gathered! 

Next week as we tumble into April, it will be full steam ahead to start knocking off these pounds and eyeing up the '11 stone zone'.

Next blog will be on Wednesday.

Hasta pronto

Day 78, 79, 80

Weight: 12 stone 12 lb

Lost: 1 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 2 stone 3 lb

Today is the first day this week that I've been feeling a lot better after my cold...so I went to the gym and did 1 hour 15 mins of CV (Bike, rower, stepper, cross-trainer and treadmill) and it felt sooo good!

Being Saturday, I then went off to the organic market in Parque Huelin, Malaga to collect my fruit and veg for the week and before heading home, made a nice little detour for lunch at vegetarian restaurant Cañadú, Plaza Merced in Malaga Centre.

 www.canadu.es

We got there for 13:30 when they open, being the first ones, then it filled up very quickly both inside and outside.

We ordered a lovely and fresh ensalada tropical (carrot, avocado, pineapple, kiwi, sweetcorn, lettuce and melon with a pink sauce.) We also tried a portion of patatas con mojo picon (a milder version of the Canarian mojo pepper sauce we love) and the most gorgeous apple and pine nut croquettes - wow!

Had to try the vegan chocolate cake...would've been rude not to! It was very tasty, fresh and moist!

Vegan chocolate cake, very naughty but nice

I have to say I recommend Cañadú for the variety on their menu...they do plenty of vegan and gluten-free dishes....even San Miguel Eco!

I'm really happy with the way things are going with my weight, I feel fitter and stronger than ever and I just have a general feeling of happiness which I know can be a missing ingredient out of life...just goes to show, if you change your diet, you can change your world!

Hasta pronto

Day 75, 76 & 77

Weight: 12 stone 13 lb

Lost: 2lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 2 stone 2lb

At last! I'm in the '12 stone zone'. I haven't seen that on the scales for 3 years, so I was very pleased to see it again.

My target for the next couple of weeks is to reach 12 stone 7 lb and this will keep me on target as I'm now just over half-way to reaching my goal of losing 4 stone in 6 months.

Woke up Monday morning with a sore throat and feeling under the weather. Even so, I went off to the gym and did my normal workout and had smoothies and a salad during the day. 

Come Tuesday morning, I was full of cold, with a streaming nose, headache and an ache around my neck and face. I spent most of the morning on the couch feeling sorry for myself and resorted to eating Heinz tomato soup and gluten-free bread. It's funny, when you're not feeling well, you tend to eat comfort foods and these foods aren't necessarily good for you.

Today I woke up feeling a little bit better, but my nose was still streaming with a cold. I spent the morning in bed and the afternoon on the couch. This time, I ate Heinz vegetable soup and in the evening I did manage to make a salad with some chips. Yes, I know I could've made a nice homemade soup but when you are ill, everything is such an effort, so I went for a simple option of opening a can of soup instead.

I do hope I'm feeling better tomorrow but again I will have to miss the gym, which is a shame because I'm really making headway. I will be returning to my smoothies however, as I'm actually missing them and I have a load of fruit ripening on my table which needs to be eaten.

I hate feeling ill, it really throws me off kilt because I've gotten used to feeling healthy and I want to feel like that all the time and not feel like crap, as I do at the moment with this blasted cold...and I can't remember the last time I had a cold this bad! 

I know I'll be better soon and I'll feel good again, so there's light at the end of the tunnel and I'm really happy that I've ducked under 13 stone and now I've just got to chip away and aim for the '11 stone zone', which I'm sure will happen next month. Wow, what a difference that will make to me!

Hasta pronto

Day 73 & 74

Weight: 13 stone 1 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 2 stone

Paid a visit to vegetarian restaurant Vegetalia which is located in Los Boliches, Fuengirola. We went there Saturday for a lovely veggie/vegan meal. They have a fantastic selection of fresh, delicious salad and also some hot dishes too.

The hot food changes daily and the delights for today were: Soya and rice burgers, carrot and potato mash, Pisto (tomato-based dish from Murcia and La Mancha with onions, red and green peppers and olive oil) and salted cabbage.

All the dishes tasted fresh and are home-made and you can eat as much as you like for 8.25€. I have to admit I did stuff my face, going up to the buffet 3 times!! Home-made desserts are also available (3.50€) and even though they did look delicious sat there in the chill cabinet, I decided to abstain.

Fresh, delicious salad from the Vegetalia salad bar

Couple of hot dishes mixed in with more lovely salad and rye bread.

I thoroughly recommend a visit to this place, as not only is the food fresh and delicious, but at a price of 8.25€ and all you can eat, it's a really good deal! Check out their website for timetable and more info: Vegetalia Restaurant

Vegetalia, C/Santa Isabel 8 Los Boliches, Fuengirola (Malaga)

I'm looking forward to this forthcoming week as I know I'm going to enter the '12 stone zone'!

I'll be back in the gym tomorrow morning and hitting the smoothies again...I'm no longer keeping track of the smoothie feast as I'm not really sticking to that...I found that it wasn't agreeing with my body at this time...maybe this is something I can revisit at a later stage.

My weight loss is on track to lose my goal of 4 stone in 6 months and I'm happy with my diet of mainly raw - with a bit of cooked vegan food. This provides my body with the perfect balance of keeping healthy, getting fit, keeping my energy up and losing weight.

Hasta pronto

Day 70, 71 & 72

Weight: 13 stone (on the dot!)

Lost: 3 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 2 stone 1 lb

Smoothie Feast: Days 16, 17 & 18 of 60

I've had a fantastic week for my weight loss, losing 4 lb since Monday and I've now lost over 2 stone since 1st January!

I went to the gym 4 times this week, partaking in copious amounts of CV work and enjoying 99% of it. I'm feeling a lot leaner and fitter, my t-shirts are getting baggy and my size 18 jeans are very loose. I'm feeling really good. I no longer have any pain in the arch of my foot, my knee or my hip - which I suffered from when I was 15 stone. That just goes to show how damaging being overweight can be to your body and how, with a bit of determination, you can reverse things for the better!

I've been keeping up with my smoothies, my salads and adding a little bit of cooked food, but staying totally vegan. I would say that I'm 80-90% raw on average and I feel this is right for my body, especially with the hard work that I'm putting in at the gym at the moment.

I'm hoping to duck under the 13 stone mark and plunge into the 12 stone zone over the weekend, which I feel is achievable, as long as I stay good! 

On the home front... the family has acquired another dog. You may remember that I mentioned about my friend going back to the UK. 
She couldn't take her dog with her. So, we offered to foster her dog, who is called Samba. She has settled in amazingly well, considering we have two other dogs (one who constantly barked at her for about 3 days, driving everybody crazy!) and 7 cats. 

Samba relaxing on the terrace

Samba posing on the terrace...

Samba very quickly understood the routine of going for a walk every morning, having her biscuit breakfast when she comes back in and her meat dinner at 5pm, even though she's asking to be fed at 4.30pm! She accepts that she sleeps on the couch in the lounge at night (though on the first night she did try to get on the bed, but after a quick chat she understood that the couch is her bed now!)

She gets on with all of the cats, ignores the other two dogs (Tilly and Frankie) but loves to run up and the down the fence where I keep my chickens! When I go to close the hen house at night, Samba likes to come with me and personally say goodnight to the hens by sticking her head round the door! 

She's a lovely, sweet dog and we are very happy to foster her.

Plans for the weekend...collecting my organic veg box on Saturday morning in Coín, then off down to the coast for the rest of the day to have a spot of lunch at Vegetalia in Los Boliches, Fuengirola and a walk along the Paseo.

Hasta pronto

Day 68 & 69

Weight: 13 stone 3 lb

Lost: 1 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 1 stone 12 lb

Smoothie Feast: Days 14 & 15 of 60

Well, after a good weekend, I put on 2 lb, but I managed to shift a pound yesterday and I'm sure I'll shift another pound today and be back on track tomorrow morning.

My mini-goal of the week is to be 12 stone 13 lb by Saturday. 

Yesterday and today I've been sticking with the smoothies and I made a really gorgeous one after my workout in the gym this morning:

Smoothie of the day:

4 bananas, 10 strawberries and hemp milk.

Rating: 5 out of 5

This is by far the BEST smoothie I've made yet and it's the hemp milk that makes it creamy and lush. Tastes like a strawberry malt shake!

This evening for my dinner I made a green smoothie of: 1 mango, 3 apples, 3 large chard leaves and water. The sweetness of the mango and apples made the green smoothie really delicious.

I have a new workout card at the gym, where I do 20 mins CV to warm up, a mixture of weights for both legs and upper body and then finish on the treadmill for 30 mins. The treadmill is how I'm really gauging my fitness at the moment, because each time I really push myself and I run for that bit longer. At the start of my raw food experience, I could only walk on the treadmill. Now, I can run for nearly 20 mins, which is a HUGE personal achievement that I can be proud of....and I can only get fitter and lighter!

Hasta pronto

Day 66 & 67

Weight: 13 stone 2 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 1 stone 13 lb

Smoothie Feast: Days 12 & 13 of 60

I've really started to notice just how fit I'm getting now. I feel fitter, stronger and lighter. 

I know I'm nowhere near my ideal weight but when you have shifted nearly 2 stone in just over 2 months, you really notice the change and it does make a difference to your life.  

I went to a birthday party last night where it had a 70´s/80´s theme, and it was so good to get up and dance for long periods without getting out of breath. It was a good night and fun to hear those old tunes again that I grew up with.

As it was the weekend I have only been semi-good! Yes I have eaten some cooked food but I also had my smoothies and salad....so not too bad. My weight has held steady and this week coming I'm going to hit that 12 stone zone....wow, that will really be something for me!

I realised I haven't stuck true to my smoothie feast but I'm listening more to what my body needs instead of being dogmatic, which is never a good way to be....adjustments where needed...that's what I say.

I'm feeling positive about this month and I have a new workout card for the gym tomorrow. 
I wonder just how much weight I can lose and how much lighter I will be by the end of March...I have high hopes.

Hasta pronto.

Day 64 & 65

Weight: 13 stone 2 lb

Lost: 1 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 1 stone 13 lb

Smoothie Feast: Days 10 & 11 of 60

Yesterday afternoon I developed a really bad headache which gradually got worse and by the evening it was like a full-on migraine. I can only put this down to a hard workout in the gym and not consuming enough fluids and food.

In future, I will have to make sure that I fuel up with a small smoothie before going to the gym and make sure I have another smoothie within an hour after my workout.

I've decided I'm going to semi-break my Smoothie Feast and have a salad in the evenings, as I feel that I need some solid food in addition to my smoothies.

Today, before heading to the gym I had a smoothie of 2 bananas and hemp seed milk. This was perfect as the bananas gave me a slow release of natural sugar and the hemp seeds provide the protein.

When I came back from the gym, I made myself a green smoothie of kale, 1 mango, 1 apple and water. This filled me up and kept me going right round til dinner, where I made myself a large salad and I boiled a few small potatoes with mojo rojo - a spicy red pepper sauce from the Canary Islands.

With the smoothies that I had today, I had lots of energy, I got plenty done, including cleaning out my casita (shed), which I've been meaning to do for a couple of months now! 

I must give you an update on the stray cat. He didn't go away, he wanted to stay so badly, so I started to give him tid-bits as he was starting to look a bit scrawny. 
Then I ended up feeding him along with the other cats first thing in the morning and I had to call him something, so I've named him 'Olly'. 
Olly had a visit to the vets last Thursday to have his little balls reduced! He is now a happy and content cat, sleeping out on my covered terrace on one of the 3 couches to choose from!

Olly - I choose to sit on the blue couch this afternoon

So now I have a total of 7 cats...and that is enough.Please Universe, no more! I've done my bit for the cat world.

Only need to lose one more pound and that will  officially be 2 stone lost since the 1st of January, where I weighed in at a hefty 15 stone 1 lb.

I'm so pleased and proud of myself that I have shifted this weight and it's made such a difference to my well-being and I look forward to going shopping for new clothes!

Hasta pronto

Day 63

Weight: 13 stone 3 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 1 stone 12 lb

Smoothie Feast: Day 9 of 60

Weight holding steady at 13 stone 3 lb, though I still feel lighter, fitter and on the whole, really good!

Day off from the gym as I really needed it...my legs were very achy and I think I pulled a muscle in my left butt, so I've been resting my aching muscles!

Made myself a gorgeous smoothie this morning, which I nominate for...

Smoothie of the Day:

3 bananas, 10 strawberries and water

Rating: 5 out of 5

Creamy and strawberry taste (of course), like healthy strawberries and cream!

Smoothie standing in my strawberry box, as I've used them all up now

Also made some hemp seed milk today, using 1/2 cup hemp seeds, 2 cups water, 2 medjool dates. Stuck it in the Blendtec and gave it a whizz. Poured the contents into a muslin (nut) bag, to get all the lovely juice out and leave all the roughage behind. Then poured juice into an air-tight glass jar and sat it in the fridge for 3 hours.

After 3 hours I went ahead and made my healthy raw, non-alcoholic piña colada, which I put together with 1/2 pineapple, vanilla pod, 1 tbsp shredded coconut and the hemp milk and blended it all together.

Looks like a big glass of milk but really it's raw piña colada

Rating: 4 out of 5

I made far too much, as it got a bit sickly near the end...hemp seeds have a stronger flavour than almonds...I prefer almond milk but it's worth trying something different.

Hopefully I would've shed a pound tomorrow, and I'll be heading back to the gym. On the whole I'm very pleased with the way my diet's going and I'm enjoying my smoothies.

Hasta pronto

Day 62

Weight: 13 stone 3 lb

Lost: 1 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 1 stone 12 lb

Smoothie Feast: Day 8 of 60

Now I'm back down to 13 stone 3 lb, which I was at the end of last month, it feels good to be back on smoothies and heading in the right direction again!

Smoothie of the Day:

Handful spinach, 1/4 of a pineapple, 6 strawberries and water

Rating: 3 out of 5

I expected this smoothie to either be green in colour, or red in colour...but in actual fact, it turned out to be brown (which I thought was quite odd). So, I've just checked on the internet, that if you do mix the colours green, yellow and red together, you get brown....not so weird after all, mystery solved. 

It wasn't aesthetically pleasing and I was disappointed with the taste...I won't be making that one again.

Maybe I should use a paint colour chart, to make sure I don't get any more brown smoothies, as brown is sooo not my colour, except when I'm getting a tan in the summer!

Had a wicked workout at the gym, I'm getting so much fitter and stronger...I feel my body is starting to tighten up. Even my butt is shrinking a bit!

I'm going to make some hemp milk tomorrow, as I haven't tried that before...and I'm going to put it into one of my smoothies. 

I could make a piña colada, with pineapple, hemp milk and shredded coconut...I just made this up, who know s what it will taste like, I'll let you know tomorrow.

Hasta pronto

Day 61

Weight: 13 stone 4 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 1 stone 11 lb

Smoothie Feast: Day 7 of 60

I am not counting yesterday as part of the smoothie/raw lifestyle as I strayed from my smoothie feast. I had a curry the night before (Saturday) and man did I pay for it! I had diarrhea and stomach cramps for most of the day (Sunday) and felt pretty rotten and fed up.

So today I am back on the smoothies and feeling much better, though I did notice that when I was in the gym, a few aches and pains had reemerged in my body, which I wasn't suffering from on my 100% raw days.

I really do have to stay on this raw diet and somehow find a way to break the neural pathway for cooked food and build a new neural pathway for smoothies!It's just a matter of reprogramming my brain to remove a behaviour, thought or addiction and replace it with a healthier one that will permanently transform my life.

I literally have to recognize my destructive behaviour around food, and what triggers it. Usually it's an emotional response, whether good or bad. When I'm in a very good mood, I want to go out and eat cooked food, when I'm feeling sorry for myself and fed up, I also want to eat cooked food. When my mood is indifferent, I seem to stay raw. So, my neural pathways are firing away when I'm in this good or bad mood and it's triggering a visceral response to eat cooked food.

Now I've recognized this behaviour, it will make it easier for me to break the pattern, thus breaking the neural pathway that controls this behaviour. I need to shift my focus away from the cooked food and to imagine my new behaviour over and over and keep repeating this in my mind so that I can build new neural pathways...thus focusing my mind and retraining my brain. Simple...

Neural Pathways in the Brain

Smoothie of the day:

4 small bananas, 4 chard leaves (no stems), 6 strawberries and water

Rating: 4 out of 5

Filling and easy to drink. Strawberries give it a sweet, fresh taste.

Gym

Even though I had a few aches and pains in my hip, knee and ankle, I still had a really good workout in the gym today...my 'muy fuerte' (very strong) workout programme is becoming 'facil' (easy). I upped the weights today on my legs and I managed to run for 15 minutes on the treadmill... I felt really energised and on a high afterwards.

So back to the gym tomorrow and continuing on my smoothie feast with more awareness of my emotions and intent.

Hasta pronto

Day 60

Weight: 13 stone 4 lb

Added:1 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 1 stone 11lb

Smoothie Feast: Day 6 of 60

Well my rapid weight loss has ground to a halt and I actually put on a pound due to my deviation from the smoothie feast yesterday. 

Woke up this morning feeling so much better than I have done these past 3 mornings. My head was clear and I felt great and raring to go. So, I went to the gym and did a CV workout for an hour and a half.

Smoothie of the day:

My favourite fruit to make smoothies out of

4 bananas, handful of spinach and water

Rating: 4 out of 5

Very simple smoothie, but delicious and easy to make, especially when you're short of ingredients.

Off to the organic market in Cartama tomorrow and I will make sure that not only will I top up on my greens, but my fruit because I kept running out of ripe fruit during the week and I need to build up a good stock of fruit because sometimes it's not always easy to buy it as you have to wait for it to ripen, which isn't a good thing when you are doing a smoothie diet!

Now we're heading into a new month of March and I will set my goal to lose one stone...and as long as I stick to my smoothie feast, it makes it very do-able.

Hasta pronto