In the middle of week 3 (so somewhere around day 17 or 18 I think) the weather had properly turned and Kate our fearless leader decided we would start to get soup in the evenings. Now yes obviously soup is cooked and therefore not containing the phytonutrients anymore, but as Kate said by this point our systems were pretty well cleaned out and we'd still be getting 3 juices a day so having a little cooked vegetable soup wasn't going to hurt us and could be useful in slowly transitioning us back to food that needs digesting. Also some veggies like tomatoes actually improve nutritionally when cooked (because of breaking down for easier digestion apparently) so not all cooking is bad.
Needless to say we fell upon the soup like a pack of starved dogs. Hilariously most of us couldn't even finish a bowl of it. I personally managed about half a bowl and I don't think I've ever felt so full. We went into the cinema to watch "Fed Up" (v.good and worth watching) and I didn't feel normal again til the end of the movie. I got really hot and my stomach felt so full. And this from half a bowl of soup!
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| Here is the bowl of soup that I couldn't eat half of! But it was very tasty. |
The pattern of each day has been pretty similar but in the last week (so from day 21) we got a new fitness instructor called Sally who teaches Nordic walking. I decided to go for the introductory session to see what it was about and really enjoyed it! It's strange that actually it uses more muscles than normal walking but feels more supported to me. I've already ordered some sticks for home and found a local teacher who runs classes. One of the really great things about it is that when going up steps I can use both knees when using the sticks for support.
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| Nordic walking sticks! Use more muscles than just normal walking and look a bit like a cross country skier who has lost their skis. And snow. And outfit. Ok nothing like a cross country skier. |
I also did a couple of yoga classes just to try them out but had a few issues with getting up off the floor without pain. The yoga instructor Kenny got one of the sunbeds into the studio for me to use so I could still participate! I do love that about this retreat - they really do anything they can to help you participate. I don't think yoga is for me right now - too many things I couldn't do even with the bed but it gives me a good feeling for the future when I'm in a position to be able to lift my body using my arms etc.
We've had quite a few different soups now and this one is my favourite - Tomato and Basil! It tastes just like yummy pasta sauce and I think if you spiralised a courgette into the hot soup after its blended you'd get a fab pasta experience without the starch or gluten!
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| Amazing yummy Tomato and Basil soup! |
All of the soup recipes have been really tasty. Of course our raw food chef doing demos this week has pointed out that at this point a flipflop would probably prove tasty due to lack of variation in juice tastes. I think she has a point but I'm not munching my flipflop to find out.
Her name is Steffi Jeffs - she's a raw foodie who runs a raw cookery school in London amongst other things and has been doing demos for us. She made the most amazing raw chocolate dip as well as a spicy raw "pho" like soup thing (yes it has hot water from a kettle but it's not cooked and so the veg still stays raw - the water is to sweat out the garlic and ginger flavours mostly). I'm personally not likely to go fully raw ever but her ideas were certainly food for thought!
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| Steffi about to make love to some Kale through massage! |
She showed us how to warm food with our hands (massage) by putting oil and a little salt on some kale. It tasted pretty good! Definitely one to experiment with.
Then yesterday Jason gave a talk on addiction. As ever he's an engaging raconteur - I could listen to him for hours. And we did because he always overruns on time. :) He made lots of sense but the abiding message that stuck with me is that you can only break the addiction cycle whether its food or cigarettes or whatever, if you recognise the craving demon for what it is and deal with it. He also pointed out why cutting down on the thing is the most pointless exercise ever. Mostly just makes the problem worse because it prolongs / exacerbates the physical symptoms. I really need to read his book again - "Freedom from the diet trap". One thing is for sure - I'm pretty decently off sugary things. All the cravings I have are for savoury foods and most of them healthy at that! The only non healthy thing I'm really craving is KFC chicken and I've found a paleo (ie no wheat) recipe that I'm going to try when I get home that hopefully will fill that. It's not the breading I'm craving but the spices I'm pretty sure. I'm going to go carefully but spicy food is in my future because I've missed it!
Tomorrow we have our nurses appointments to find out what we've lost and differences in our blood results etc. That should be interesting! It's hard to believe that tomorrow is our last day.
Here is a selfie from last night - when I do the final post with all the results I'll show some before and after pics too.
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| Day 26 selfie - nearly there! |
Fi
xoxo
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