How I Changed
Before and after - 9 months between these photos
Lots of people in Wellington know me and see me regularly, because I stand in front of choirs every week! A couple of years ago now, they started noticing a difference in the way I look. For all those who've asked or wondered where 25% of my former self went to, or why I'm bouncing around like Tigger, here's the story of what I've been up to.
You wouldn't think it from the picture on the left, but at the time, I thought I was quite healthy! I'd been a vegetarian for twenty five years; had run a tofu-making business, and was even co-owner of an organic shop at one stage; raised three children, did my kitchen duty and thought I knew a lot about food. I thought I had quite a 'clean' diet, not much processed food, etc. I tried to get to yoga a couple of times a week (I think that was probably the aim, but mostly I failed to get there!) and didn't have time for any other exersize. Ah, we were never a 'sporty' family! I wasn't sure how much of a change I needed, except that I was feeling my age, and tired, and beginning to wonder if it would be me or my husband Bill who was going to get seriously ill first...
In mid-2013, I watched the movie Fat, Sick and nearly Dead - a documentary by a guy called Joe Cross, which followed him over a year as he embarked upon a journey to return himself to health by re-setting his nutrition using what he subsequently called a 're-boot'. The movie is incredibly entertaining, informative and inspiring, and Joe's a really engaging character who gets his message across. He's put the whole movie up on YouTube now, you can see it here . He even made a sequel, here.
Joe went on a 60-day juice fast - for all that time he just drank juices made from fresh fruits and vegetables. It seemed very extreme, but then again, so were his results. We decided to try a few days, even though the idea of not eating for that long seemed just like trying to hold our breath.
We had an old centrifugal juicer in the back of the cupboard (had made orange juice about 5 years ago and then it joined the steamer and the sandwich press in the "too much work" section) so Bill and I got it out, dusted it down and got to work. We went to our local Sunday morning market and bought lots of fresh fruit & veg. We looked all over Joe's comprehensive website, rebootwithjoe.com and found a 3-day plan that seemed to be a good starting place. Luckily, it was school holidays, so during the early days of detoxing and feeling awful we could hibernate a bit. After 3 days we started to feel better and decided to keep going for another day (we actually did 6 altogether). I was surprised as anybody that I could last that long without eating solid food!
Strangely, the first thing I wanted to eat wasn't the usual cheese-on-toast-washed-down-with-a-beer. It was an apple. Then a salad. Then some soup - but home-made so I knew what was in it (just vegetables!). All the old cravings had gone - sugar, salt, processed foods, alcohol, bread, dairy - and my body was back to 'factory settings' as they say.
Oh, and the next day all I really wanted was juice again. And so it went on, still juicing for breakfast and lunch, with a main meal in the evening entirely plant-based. Yes, vegan. And gluten-free while we're at it (why not?). Mostly vegetables, and don't worry about the carbs or the protein, they're in there somewhere - I don't have to consciously think to include them in my diet, any more than I have to consciously remember to breathe. A few nuts here, some beans there, some complicated amino acid chemistry (our bodies are so clever!) from my huge vegetable intake and hey presto - look: I'm not falling over!
"Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much" - Michael Pollan
After a while, I went to the doctor and got some blood tests done, just to make sure I wasn't getting short of anything. A 'pinch me' moment. They confirmed what I knew anyway - I was fighting fit and getting stronger every day. I'd quite like to get some more done, to see any trends.
We bought a new juicer. A Semak Vitajuice, which is a masticating type. You can get them from Commonsense Organics. It seemed really expensive, but the juice yield was much higher in nutrients (and sometimes in volume) than our old juicer. And we spend about 25% less on our food bill nowadays - even though we consume much more organic produce. There are lots of different juicers out there. The best ones are the ones that sit on your kitchen bench - yes, it only works if you make the juice and DRINK IT!!!
Losing weight and having more energy means I'm more inclined to exersize, and yoga is still my favourite (but now I actually GO most of the time!) I'm a great fan of hot yoga . I walk the dog and try to keep on my feet as much as I can.
I'm probably not that saintly really, and I have the odd moment when I've eaten a bit of cheese, had a glass of wine or a beer, even a piece of cake. I enjoyed them, but one was enough, and sometimes they had negative consequences that I won't dwell on in public - suffice to say that I learnt those lessons the hard way! I think Jonathan Bailor's analogy of a blocked sink is really cool (even though I get the feeling he's trying to sell me something!) see his video here.
I've got really interested in nutrition as a result of all this. I don't know much about it at all, but I'm learning new stuff all the time. I've recently been listening to lectures at the Future of Nutrition Conference and getting my head around things like epigenetics, the politics of food, and the psychology of eating, as well as micro- macro- and phyto-nutrients. There is some exciting and fascinating science being done around this subject right now, and gives me hope that we might just be on to something here. Statistics, news, and our own observations can paint a depressing picture of obesity, ill health and decline but my experience is that its really possible to turn this all around - including the clock, in many ways.
Not that I profess to be an expert in the subject. I'm not pretending that this is the right way for anyone else to go about things. But I have worked out the right nutrition for my self, at this time - and I couldn't say that this time last year. As JJ Virgin says "treat your body as a chemistry lab, not a bank account". Snappy.
Sometimes I kick myself that it took me 50 years to work this out. I hope I get another 50 to enjoy my good health and help others to follow their own path to being the best they can be.