Christmas, Family, Holidays, Traditions

Holiday Rituals Part 1

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Wow! A crazy three or so weeks has flown by wrapping up all things work related for 2014.  And now a lady of leisure, I can concentrate on why this is my favourite time of the year.  I do have some silly rituals, but they are dear to me.

The first is all about the wacky genius of Tim Burton.  This is the time of the year when I get out all my favourite Tim Burton classics and rewatch.  It all starts at Halloween with The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Jack Skellington’s need to infect Halloween Town with the Christmas spirit is just a wonderful tale.

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Now I have to mention here that when it comes to trick or treating and kids wandering the neighbourhood door knocking and begging for candy, I morph into the Halloween Grinch.  So some parts of Halloween I can certainly do without.  But Tim Burton’s imagery captures my imagination at this mystical time of year.

So The Nightmare Before Christmas is quickly chased by Corpse Bride, Beetlejuice and Dark Shadows.  I also love Coraline which has a Tim Burtonish flavour but is actually a movie from the director of Nightmare.

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All this revisiting movies I love puts me in the mood for the holiday season to come.

At tree decorating time, I celebrate a day of hard out Christmas-ifying of the house by watching Holiday Inn.  You know, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and that famous little song White Christmas?

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Then Christmas Eve means it must be time for White Christmas the movie – Bing Crosby and Rosemarie Clooney and a whole lot of Irving Berlin classics…. Magical!  And finally, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol – the Disney version with Jim Carey.  Some say scary, I say classic Dickens (one of my most favourite authors).

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And that about rounds up Holiday Rituals Part 1 – watching old movies.  This about sums it up for me:

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Christmas, Family, Food

Remembering Granny Sybil

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It is my favourite time of year.  Spring time in the Southern Hemisphere.  It is the time when I miss Africa most.  For me nothing quite compares to the sights, smells and sounds of spring on the Highveld of South Africa or in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.  Beautiful lilac Jacaranda blossom, the call of the Woodland Kingfishers returning south for the season and the sweet, wobbly newborn antelope, zebra and wildebeest….. pure magic!

Still my favourite time of here too as we take time for preparations for the coming festivities.  It is a time of remembrance for me and keeping time honoured family traditions and rituals.

So Labour weekend this year once again saw the kitchen abuzz at Mom and Dad’s place.  Out come all Granny Sybil’s recipes and the mixing, mincing and endless stirring begins.  On the to do list the lemon curd, the Christmas fruit mince and, of course, the brandy laced Christmas pudding.  All exceptionally delicious!  And need I say that the no sugar way of life has no place at this time…. hmmm.

Granny Sybil was my paternal grandmother.  A single mother bringing up her two sons on the outskirts of central Johannesburg in the 50s, 60s and 70s.  My earliest memories of her all revolve around the kitchen – baking, preserving and the best Sunday roasts ever.  Christmas was always a veritable feast at Granny Sybil’s house.   But also the garage.  There always seemed to be some car or bike engine in various pieces strewn around the house and in the garage thanks to my dad and his brother.

She was a strong woman who had given up much of her life to earn a living and look after ailing parents.  She married late and finally found a few years wedded bliss before her husband became ill and passed away leaving her with her two boys to bring up.  I have always felt  a sense of awe about Granny Sybil – her sense of family, her duty and obligation to her husband’s family, her love for her boys and then us later on.  It was a practical love and always involved making or preparing something for us.  Her knitting was also legendary in our family.  I remember she also always took the time to wear a pretty house dress, apply her lippy and get her hair set in curls.

And so, Granny, it is that time of year again where we hope to honour your memory and all that you were and still are to us.

The fruits of our Labour weekend - Granny Sybil's Lemon Curd, Christmas Mince and Christmas Pudding
The fruits of our Labour weekend – Granny Sybil’s Lemon Curd, Christmas Mince and Christmas Pudding
Health and Wellness

Week 8: Refining and Moving Forward

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Here we are at the end of IQS Week 8 and the end of our little experiment.  In an effort to think about moving forward this week I decided on a further cleanse – internal spring clean if you will.  This took the form of a homeopathic based liver elixir and drops of a habit relief formula.

The first 2 days of this process was just awful – headaches, nausea and very low energy (in bed by 8pm those nights).  I also cut back on coffee to coincide with the cleanse so I am not sure if the two days of awful was actually just caffeine withdrawal?  However, by the third day I was feeling fine again.

I did experience a few odd cravings this week so I am not convinced those habit relief drops were actually that useful?  Spicy fruit toast and deep fried chicken were the cravings, although not simultaneously.  I am most certainly not pregnant!

With cutting back on the coffee I am trying to instigate new rituals around drinking tea morning and evening.  In the morning a cup of organic rooibos or green tea in a pretty cup is most rejuvenating.  And a chai infused milk in the evening makes a great dessert replacement.

Luxurious and fragrant chai ritual
Luxurious and fragrant chai ritual

So in conclusion:

  • Was sugar controlling my mind and messing with my body?  YES
  • Has this 8 week IQS process recalibrated my system? YES
  • Do I feel more in control of my cravings? Definitely
  • Has the past 8 weeks been worth it? Absolutely
  • Do I feel substantially better in my health? I do
  • More than anything else I have tried previously? Yes, again
  • And the question everyone is asking – did I lose weight?  Well, I have not gone anywhere near a scale or tape measure but I venture a yes here too based on my clothes fitting more comfortably, especially round the middle.

So moving forward once more:

Yes, I do think I will be incorporating the IQS principles “for life” and minimising sugar intake as much as possible without becoming an anti-sugar bore.  Mostly I will strive to be gentle with myself always.

I have a more balanced relationship with food and I want to keep it that way.  Food is fuel for every day.  I need to pay attention to the cues of my body (a different sensation from cravings).  I have the idea of no sugar more the 3 – 6g/100g at the back of my mind most of the time and certainly minimising processed foods as much as possible.

But I will also enjoy every moment of times of celebration with friends and family that invariably involve food and indulgence.

No more “cold” comfort on my own after a hard day at work.  I will look to new forms of comfort such as making tea, lighting a candle and meditating, walking on the beach, sitting in the garden, fresh linen on the bed, splashing out on a manicure, buying and arranging fresh cut flowers, etc.

So I congratulate myself for all the times during the past 8 weeks I did not give in to the cravings or temptations.  But also for all the times I bounced back from a small lapse.  I will not berate myself for the fried chicken or that bag of potato chips.

Ultimately I now think our relationship with food and getting a balance between mind and body is not ever a one-off process or stumbling luckily across one cure-it-all.  Rather it is a journey (like life is).  A journey of reflection, growth, refinement and finding your flow.

I am also looking forward to checking out Dr Libby’s new book – Sweet Food Story.

Good luck with your wellness journey!

Health and Wellness

Week 7: Recovering from Lapses

After the lapse in IQS week 6 it has been amazingly simple to bounce back now in week 7.  As Sarah puts in the Week 7 chapter of her IQS book, you revert back to your blank slate by eating fat and crowding out with lots of fresh greens.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, there is a much better mind body balance at play here.  I feel  more balanced, the cravings no longer control me.

Having previously (for years) struggled with headaches and a fairly constant foggy brain state, I am feeling so much clearer and focused and energised.  I have had practically no headaches in the last seven weeks.

My energy levels are so different to what they were before this little experiment. I wouldn’t say I leap out of bed in the mornings but I am not waking up with a heavy head feeling more tired than when I fell into bed the night before.

This is such an incredible sense of freedom.  I never would have believed it possible.  I must admit to having been quite sceptical before starting this process that I would feel this level of result after seven short weeks.

I’m feeling happily full after meals.  I only eat when I’m hungry and this week have had almost no cravings between meals.  My portion sizes are much smaller too.  It is all becoming a lot easier to manage.  What felt like quite a chore to think and plan through the meals for the week and shopping, etc. is now coming quite naturally.

Even my supermarket choices are improving, more controlled.  I stick to my list and listen to the cues of my body as I’m wandering the aisles.  My body is not signalling a need for the bad stuff.

Another thing I have noticed is I seem to be processing water more effectively.   What I mean by that is, I have gone for a number of years now feeling almost constantly thirsty.  As a result I would drink about two to three litres of water a day and still feel thirsty.  I struggled a lot with water retention at the same time.  My weight could fluctuate 2 – 3 kgs in a single day!  In the past weeks I am definitely not as thirsty.  I am still drinking about one to two litres of water a day but it makes me feel full and seems to be doing what it is supposed to instead of sitting around where it is not supposed to and making me feel huge and unhappy.

All rather miraculous really.  Long may this last.

I Quit Sugar book cover
Thank you, Sarah Wilson, for sharing your IQS journey

Check out the IQS Store online for lots of other info and ideas from Sarah.

Health and Wellness, Travel

Week 6: Add some sweetness back in

Cathedral Cove, Hahei, Coromandel, NZ
Cathedral Cove, Hahei, Coromandel, NZ

This week we went on holiday.  Beautiful New Zealand in the spring time.  I know people complain about spring weather in this part of the world – the wind, the rain, its changeable nature.  But at this same time we see the gorgeous shades of green of paddock and forest, washed bright and fresh by the spring showers.  The aquamarine blue of the water washing up along the white sands on the Pacific coast.  The blues and greens of spring are rejuvenating, whispering hope and growth.

We put aside IQS restrictions and took advantage of being on holiday in every sense we could.

I didn’t feel guilty but rather relished indulging in a few of the delectable delights on offer – a 2 hour wine tasting plus accompaniments at a local vineyard with my mom; a delicious tapas meal with smoked beer in a converted church and tiny tastes of yummy baked goods at the local cafe chased with a fabulous macchiato (difficult to find a good one of those in this country in my experience).  The perfect break from our normal.

And so we head into Week 7: Recovering from Lapses.  This seems pretty appropriate considering the the week 6 we just had.  Reading what Sarah says about IQS week 7, it seems we are ahead of the game.  This week’s conscience lapse has reminded us of why we quit the white stuff in the first place.  So we focus back on being mindful in a gentle and kind way of how our bodies responded to a little sweetness.  In my case, I can definitely say that I have broken a bad habit and feel better for it.  I can hear my body’s voice asking for whole, fresh, vital and nutritious food.  I feel more in balance and not fighting against the cravings.  That makes staying without sugar a much easier choice.  I am motivated to continue…. maybe IQS for life?