Going green

I have been on a health kick. It's not my usual style and I suspect it may not last long, but whilst I've been in the right frame of mind I've been going for it. My main driver for this has been the yoga teacher training course that I am now nearly half way through (how did that happen). In yogaland, if not in the real world, it's been spring time and I have decided that if I am ever going to embrace the yogi lifestyle it should probably be now.

Spring is all about cleansing: getting rid of the winter love handles, clearing out your house, planning for the future, and giving your body a stretch and some much needed respite from the every day excesses that usually get me from 9 to 5 and beyond. Feeling inspired, I set to work. The cupboards have been emptied and ebayed, I've done my home yoga practice and meditation like a good girl most days, and I've been trying to cut back on caffeine, alcohol and any processed food whilst getting lots of green onto my plate to alkalise my diet which is supposed to be the best way to energise your life.

The most extreme part of all this has been a 7 day juice detox, where I drank 5 freshly squeezed fruit and veg juices every day, and nothing else (apart from the odd home made lemon or fennel tea). Most of them were spiked with spirulina (a blue green algae superfood) or wheatgrass and were various shades of yummy greenness apart from the odd vibrant carroty orange or bloodred beetroot.

It was hard.

The first few days were full of aches and pains as my body went cold turkey on all its usual stimulants, and even though I wasn't hungry I spent a lot of time fantaising about eating Greggs pasties and Chinese all you can eat buffets, which is strange because I really don't like either much. However, I did it and at the end of the week I felt great; full of energy and just a little bit smug! Since then I've kept up the caffeine free life (apart from the odd square or two of dark chocolate) and I've been juicing each morning and keeping up the effort to make sure my plate has much more healthy green  stuff on it then anything else. The wine, however, is back although in a much more restrained style.

For all the difficult bits, I would do it again, and it certainly taught me some things about myself that I wasn't fully aprreciative of before:

1.  I have much stronger will power then I thought I did
2.  I love cooking and eating food with my family and friends much more than I thought I did.

The planning, preparation and consumption of good food is a sociable, relaxing and enjoyable part of my every day life and I really missed it.  Fortunately, springtime is also about having fun and being a social animal, so without further ado I am off to open a bottle and sit in the sunshine with an Italian inspired feast to celebrate the important things in life and the fact that my shorts from last year, now that I've finally got a chance to wear them again, are significantly less snug then I remember them. Cheers to that!