Kai Chronicles

Eating, exploring and enjoying life

Tag Archives: alcohol free


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Listen to your body

 

I’ve just stuffed down a piece of homemade (by me) pumpkin pie topped with fresh whipped cream. I had to force it down because I am so full from dinner: 3/4 of a veggie pizza and 3 beer.

Yes, I’m on a binge.

No, I’m not happy with myself.

I’ve had a shithouse day full of disappointment and self-induced stress but nevermind that, the binge was premeditated.

See, tomorrow is the start of another health kick or health booster as I’m calling this latest stint.

I’ve fallen back into the habit of  drinking alcohol everyday, whether I really feel like it or not and my eating habits are getting slack as well.

I’ve been baking too.

Raspberry white chocolate muffins

Banana cake, chocolate chip cookies, muffins…and of course, I eat it! The muffins…yummy!

I’ve also had a hamburger and I don’t even eat RED MEAT!!! Damn, it was delicious!

 

Hamburger with homemade pesto and salad

 

I said it before. I love food. I like to have a beer or two on a hot day. I love homemade baked goods and I’m pretty good at making yummy things. But it’s now time to listen to my body.

I’ve had a few headaches lately and my respiratory system is becoming clogged up again. Thankfully, I still have my sense of smell and taste, which is great but also makes it hard for me to resist good food. And  when I hear the word resist, I think of Eckhart Tolle when he says:

“What you resist, persists”

 

I truly feel ill at the moment. I’ve eaten so much tonight that I feel sick but I am still thinking, ‘only 3 hours left of today, then it’s back on the wagon, what else can I eat?’

But I cannot eat or drink another thing tonight so for the next 4 weeks (minus Oct 27th when I have dinner plans in Perth), I will be on my health booster which will include the following guidelines:

 
On the menu

 

Protein: Chicken, fish, eggs, yogurt, chickpeas, beans, nuts, seeds

 

Carbs/Starch: Brown rice, oats, gluten-free pasta

 

Oils: olive, sesame

 

Dairy: Greek yogurt, sheep’s feta

 

Veg: All except carrot, corn, potatoes

 

Fruit: ONLY berries, green apple, pear, lemon, lime

 

Drinks: Decaf tea/coffee, soy/rice milk, water – NO ALCOHOL or SUGAR Drinks

 

Limit sugar, fat, processed foods

 
Fitness (mind and body)

 

 

 

10 minutes meditation                                                  Daily

 

5 Healing Tibetans/yoga (15min)                             Daily

 

20 minutes (min) of cardio                                          4 times per week (M*, T, Th*, Sat)

 

1.5 hour yoga class                                                          Wednesday

 

* Training with Mr M

 

I do not need to lose weight, just tone and get rid of the beer bloat. I know for sure that I feel and look better when I cut out all the junk that my body doesn’t need. Gosh, I know I sound like a broken record and I truly hope that someday I will get to where I want to be. For now, I will get back up after I have fallen…again and again and again.

The thing is, I secretly look forward to these “restricted” periods. For some reason, I cannot go without unless I give myself a date and some rules. Control issues? Probably, but whatever works at the time.

October and November is a great time to get healthy before the Christmas season kicks off. Nobody in their right mind tries a health plan or restricted diet during that time!!

If you’re trying a new eating regime, remember this: it’s hard work and you really need to want it bad enough to be successful at it. (Yes, I’m talking to myself here…lol.)

 

 

 

 

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I’m a control freak when it comes to food.

So, I’m not on my restricted regime anymore. The demise started last weekend when I was feeling like absolute crap.

 

I was taking Panodol just to stay upright but still felt the effects of a mysterious internal infection. The day before, I made chocolate chip biscuits for Master 6 and the kids I was looking after for the weekend. Well, I decided that I wanted to try one…just one to perk myself up a bit. One wasn’t enough. However, I did stop at two. They were delicious.

 

The next morning, I made bacon and cheese tea biscuits (similar to scones) for the boys’ breakfast and lunch boxes. I had one. I could not resist it. Today, I made chocolate banana muffins. I thought about resisting but I choose not to and had 2 mini muffins ( baby size).

 

The chocolate banana muffin (regular size not the mini version).

It was the third time in 10 days that the word resist came to my present moment. When asked by my yoga teacher why I did not go to the doctor I said, “I resist western medicine.” As soon as I said it aloud, I knew I had to reflect upon it.

 

Then when I thought in my mind ‘I can’t resist that tea biscuit’, I knew it had to end; the controlling relationship I have with food. I remember what Eckhart Tolle said, “What you resist persists.”

 

It doesn’t mean I went on a binge and devoured all restricted items. I did not. But I’m over with being such a tight-ass. I don’t do this strictly because of my health condition, although that has always been the premise. I think I do it out of the need to control a situation that only I can. I know this sounds vaguely like the mind of someone with an eating disorder. I am now on a mission to change my thoughts about food. I know I have conditioned myself enough to moderate food now…in the name of my health.

 

That is why I made an amazing dinner tonight including one thing I normally would not eat and haven’t eaten in 8 months: Wheat Pasta. I normally insist on eating only gluten-free pasta.

 

The dish I wanted to create is nicer with a fresh egg fettuccine. The Garlic Lovers Pasta Sauce is a recipe handed down to me from my very good friend, Gillian McKenzie. She used to make this when we were flatmates in Vancouver, Canada. Now, it is a regular menu item at her restaurant,The Seaside Shanty in Chester, Nova Scotia. It is easy, fast and yummy!  Here’s how to make 2 servings (or 3 small).

 

 

  1. Mince 5 cloves of garlic. Add it to 2 TBSP of oil in a saucepan; sauté until soft, about 1 minute. Do not burn.

Step 1

2. Add 1tsp of dried basil or mixed Italian herbs (that’s what I use)

Step 2

3. Add 1/5 tsp of chilli flakes or cayenne pepper. ( I use a little less)

4. Add 1tsp each of salt and pepper.

5.Add 2 cans of chopped or crushed tomatoes. (I use chopped)

6. Simmer for 30 minutes. Take lid off pot half way through.

7. BBQ 2 free-range chicken breasts. I season with salt, pepper, and olive oil only before cooking. Cut into slices when cooked.

Step 7

8. Cook a package of fresh fettuccine pasta according to the package instructions. Or make your own if you’re real keen. Sometimes, I am that keen.
9. Twist pasta onto a large plate.
10. Top with 2 large spoonfuls of sauce.
11. Grate fresh parmesan cheese over the sauce.
12 Top with sliced chicken.

13. Serve.

Step 13….don’t serve with recipe card!!

14. Eat.
15. Enjoy.
16. Love

 

One item I am not ready to resume is alcohol. I love a cold beer on a hot summer day so I can wait until those days arrive. My goal is November. I will try the moderation thing with alcohol again. I used to do it so there is no reason I can’t again.

 

I know I have said all these things before and then I go and stick myself back on a restricted regime that I don’t really enjoy.

 

I love to cook. I love to bake. I love to eat the foods I make out of love and joy. How can that be wrong?

I do have a respiratory condition that I need to monitor but I am so grateful that I am not celiac or diabetic or have a condition that calls for me to never have the foods I love again. I think it’s time I let go of my control freak ways and just enjoy life. Isn’t that what we are all here for?

 

By the way, I finally gave in and saw a doctor on Friday, August 24th. I am now on 2 medications: prednisolone (which is great, I’ve been on it several times over the past 17 years) and clarithomycin tablets, which I believe is an anti-biotic*. The doctor said 17 days with a cold or flu is not the norm and he even took some swabs of my throat and nose for testing. Two days on and I am feeling much better although I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep. I’ve been awake since before 4am this morning and it’s now 9pm. My early morning coughing fit has not subsided yet. Maybe tonight’s the night.

 

If you are maintaining a new eating regime or trying out a restricted diet for weight or health reasons, I urge you to stick with it for a minimum of 3 weeks. Often new habits are formed around this time and you just may not even want the “bad for you” foods as much or again. If you fall off, get back up there the next day. I have been up and off that wagon so many times now that more often than not, I will choose gluten-free, dairy free, yeast free and alcohol free items first anyway. It’s about your conditioning and priorities. If your health is in question, then it’s a no-brainer. Yes, it’s damn hard especially when you’ve lived your entire life eating the foods that are making you ill.

 

The question is: Are you living to eat or eating to live?

 

 

*always take a probiotic supplement or have some live culture yoghurt daily while taking as away to maintain good bacteria in your tummy.

 

Inner Health for ummm inner health

 

I love this yoghurt.It may be dairy but it’s good for the tummy!

 


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Starting All Over Again…..

These sweets don’t tempt me…

Do you struggle to stick to a diet or restricted eating plan?

I’ve been up and down on different regimes over the past 8 years or so and have failed to make a permanent lifestyle change. Mind you, I am fairly healthy and my eating habits are very healthy….most of the time.

Yet here I am once again flapping on about food and my struggles but that fact is: I like to eat and drink!! I love FOOD!! But I am destined to live a life of deprivation and limitation.

It’s August 1 and for the next 31 days I am challenging myself to restrict the foods and drink that I know for sure interfere with my health (and waistline):

Wheat

Yeast

Dairy

Caffeine

Red Meat (I don’t eat it anyway)

ALCOHOL

Sugar needs to be on the list too and I will not add sugar to anything but I am not going so far as to totally ban it….life’s too short for that nonsense.

Right now, I’d say my biggest battle will be with the withdrawal of alcohol. I’m not an alcoholic by any stretch of the imagination but I do like a beer or two come 5pm most nights.

The thing about booze, especially beer is that it makes me fat. There is no doubt in my mind that a few beer everyday has contributed to the BBB (bloated belly blues) I have and the additional 3kgs I’ve been carrying around since mid-June. Like food, my alcohol intake has been inconsistent over the years.

I was 14 when I got drunk for the first time. My friends and I were on our way to a school dance (hey, it was 1986!) and I downed 3 bottles of beer not knowing the effect it would have. Well, I have no idea how I made it through the doors of the school because I couldn’t even walk!! Booty shaking was definitely out!

Over the next 18 years, I used the drink as a way to party and socialize. I was a classic binge drinker and usually only drank to get drunk.  It was never a loved pastime so when I began to reflect on my health and change some consumption habits, booze was easily off the intake list!! During the years of 2003-2009, I rarely drank but then something changed.

While living in tropical Australia, I realised how good it could be to enjoy a cold beer after a long, hot day at work. This easily became a habit and before long I was drinking 5 out of 7 days a week. For the first time in my life I was drinking to wind down and cool down, not for the purpose of getting wasted!!  But I knew it was going to catch up with me.

After my 2nd nasal surgery in 2008 and several allergy tests that all proved to be inconclusive and unsuccessful, I had to accept the fact that it was food and drink products that were playing havoc with my sinuses.

I’m trying to avoid this look ( I have no idea why this photo refused to stay upright)

August 15, 2012 will mark the 1 year anniversary of my 3rd nasal surgery to remove nasal polyps and the last 12 months have been my most consistent year of restriction so far, though my eating/drinking habits are constant peaks and valleys.  I know this is how I must live my life in order to stay out of the hospital and to just breathe easier.  I recently had the all clear from my Ear, Nose and Throat doctor so I’m doing something right.

That is why today marks the beginning of yet another stint of going without. This newest deadline is set at 1 month but I know I will have to keep it going well beyond September 1.

Along with the forgoing of alcohol and the danger foods, I am committing to:

  • 6:30am wake-up
  • Daily meditation
  • Daily yoga practice at home
  • Weekly Iyengar yoga class
  • Weekly Pilates at home
  • Daily practice of The 5 Healing Tibetans
  • Twice weekly kickboxing

My end goal is to just be healthy…..bahaha…………. and look damn good in my bikini by November 1!!!


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Eat to live or live to eat?

Welcome to kai chronicles!!

Kai is a common word and its meaning varies depending on your culture. I have connections to New Zealand and Japan and that is why I have chosen to call this blog kai chronicles.

According to Wikipedia:

In Māori, Kai means “food” (this one is absolutely true and used by many kiwis).

In Japanese, Kai may mean “change” or “the action to correct” or “concerning oneself with” (I will check this with Japanese mates). Notice how Wikipedia uses the word “may”.

So now I ask the age old question: Do you live to eat or eat to live?

I seem to be living to eat lately but I go through stages.

I have been attempting to be dairy, gluten, red meat, alcohol, fruit, sugar, yeast, caffeine,  fermented food FREE off and on for nearly 18 months now. Actually since 2005, I have experimented with many forms of food restrictions due to health issues.

It’s extremely hard to do but I have been successful, for short periods of time.

AND, the thing is this: When on the ‘restricted’ diet, I feel better!!! But after 4-6 weeks, I crack and cannot cope unless I eat a whole cake and once I do that, it’s all off until I have the will power to start all over again.

This I  know for sure: I’m an emotional eater.

My latest attempt, which was successful for 2 weeks then I introduced apples, potatoes and some other ‘sweet’ vegetables and all was well for anther 2 weeks before I started to cave, was smack in the middle of some emotional turbulance so it was probably not the best time to give it a go.

I am now enjoying most of the restrictions except: alcohol, dairy(except pro-biotic yogurt which is good for tummy health), caffeine and mostly staying away from yeast. If I crave a peanut butter sandwich, I’ll eat it.

I’ve been practicing ‘presence’ for nearly four years now. I rationalise my food intake with the NOW.

If this moment is all we have, I say, “EAT CAKE AND LOVE IT”.