Moderation and balance!

Most of you know of my history with dieting, I’ve been underweight, overweight and every weight in between, I have been tracking my food, weight, mood etc for over 10 years and I found my old journals a couple of weeks back while cleaning my garage, I flicked through one and saw a weight of 57.4kg :( with a sad face next to it! How sad is it that I was that tiny and still I let a number tell me how to feel. One thing I know for sure is that no matter what number that scale says it doesn't automatically mean a better life.

I have been a very obsessive dieter, or some might say I was just obsessed with healthy eating of varying degrees and when I look back now I realise that I had/have disordered eating/eating disorder, there is no hiding from it or wrapping it up in a bow and presenting it as something else.  While I wasn’t on the extreme end it was still in the same camp.

I’ve always been off a diet or on a diet and I have up until about six months ago had a very unhealthy relationship with food and my body.  I never knew how to do moderation http://primaljourney.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/everything-in-moderation.html, I was your typical all or nothing type A personality, if I did anything I did it with passion and nailed it or I was a failure, there was no balance.  Moderation did not exist in my vocabulary and I wanted to change that, I was sick of the dieting life and I so badly wanted to eat intuitively!

Something has changed, in a huge way and I am finally confident to share where I am at.  I still wanted to wait until I could give you the perfect example, there I go again with my perfectionism (still working on that) but what I realise in this world of blogging is that authenticity has got me such a loyal readership and I know that there are many others out there who could learn from my journey.  

Finding balance for me has been a very interesting journey and what I have come to understand as of late is that balance means different things for different people.  While I’ve been on a journey to find balance since the middle of last year I didn’t find it the way I thought I would, it’s come in a very all over the show way and as I sit here writing this I feel goosebumps about how life changing these past months have been for me.

When I wrote this blog post http://primaljourney.blogspot.co.nz/2014/07/finding-moderation-after-life-of.html back in July last year about letting go and finding balance, I had no idea that the best was yet to come and that I hadn’t fully embraced everything in moderation.  I had tried to let go of being on a diet and I had blimps of what that might be like but it wasn’t until I started working with Kate Callaghan from The Holistic Nutritionist that things started to change, it has been the best money I’ve ever spent, she has really taught me so much. 

What I truly wanted to learn for myself was how to eat in moderation, it has been "hand on heart" the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I can say that as I learn and grow on this journey I understand now how important finding balance has been to feel at true peace with my body.  

I embraced imperfection, sometimes that means to me that my food choices will be less than stellar and I’m totally ok with that, in fact this part has been very healing.  I listen to what my body wants to eat and go from there, most people would think that if they did that then all hell would break loose and you would be stuffing your face with pizza and ice cream.  It’s really not like that at all and the freedom that has come from eating such a wide variety of food has never felt so good.  

I haven’t weighed myself in months! THIS IS HUGE!!! For me especially, because for the past few years while maintaining my weight loss I have weighed religiously everyday, even sometimes a couple times a day and I made myself CRAZY!!! All it did was dictate my day and that left me feeling miserable.

Now don’t get me wrong it is a tool for weight loss and while it had it’s place in the short term for my weight loss journey it didn't serve me well to keep in the long term.  It became such an unhealthy obsession and I love not weighing myself anymore.  

You ask how? I just refrained from doing it, simple right? Not exactly, it’s a struggle but I put it in the cupboard and anytime I had the urge to weight myself I would remind myself of how it really did me no favours and I didn’t want that number to tell me how to feel.  For example, a month ago I was feeling quite good in my body, my jeans were looser and I could tell I had lost weight, the urge came over me to jump on the scale just to see that number.  I stopped and said to myself, it doesn’t even matter what you weigh, you are looking great, your clothes are fitting you perfect, why would you want a number to define this healthy state of mind and body that you feel?! so I didn’t and to this day I still don’t know what I weigh and I hope I can tell you that a year from now I still don’t know.

When I was talking with Kate last month she asked me how I was going, the only way I could describe it was that I feel a reconnection with my body that was lost for years! 

A friend asked me what success with my relationship with food would look like?  In a nutshell it's this....

I can eat whatever I want without feeling like I made "good" or "bad" choices, it's just food.
I still crave vegetables and salads even though I can eat Pizza if I want.
I can leave food on my plate.
I savour my food and feel satisfied when I am done.
I don't wake up thinking about how to plan my day of meals.
I don't think about food all day long.
I can have chocolate in the cupboard and not devour it in one sitting.
I forget that I have ice cream in the freezer.
I can have just one cookie.

Sources of Inspiration that helped me:

http://www.theholisticnutritionist.com

http://jillfit.com

http://www.negharfonooni.com

http://summerinnanen.com

http://thefuckitdiet.com

http://stopfightingfood.com

http://maddymoon.com
http://eatwellnz.co.nz

Lime & Strawberry Cheesecake

C

With Christmas around the corner and Strawberries in Season (in New Zealand) this makes the perfect dairy free dessert and I just LOVE cheesecake!!!

Makes about 8 ramekins

Crust:
1 1/2 cups Walnuts
1/3 cup Desiccated Coconut
1/2 cup pitted Medjool dates
¼ tsp celtic sea salt

Filling:
3 cups raw cashews that have been soaked for at least 4 hours or overnight if you have the time.
3/4 cup lime juice, freshly squeezed
3/4 cup honey, maple syrup or coconut nectar
1 tsp pure vanilla powder or the seeds of a whole vanilla bean
3/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 cup Fresh Strawberries

Topping:
1/3 cup Medjool Dates
3/4 cup Strawberries

Directions:

1. Line your ramekin dishes with cling film so once they are frozen they will be easy to remove from the ramekin!

2. Place nuts, dates, coconut and salt in a food processor and pulse until mixure resembles a crumb like texture. Scoop out crust mixture into your ramekin dishes and press nice and firm.

3. In your high speed blender (I use the Optimum 9400), place soaked cashews, lime juice, honey, coconut oil and vanilla and blend on high for a couple of minutes, it should be nice and smooth. 

4. Pour about 1/2 of the mixture onto of the base into the ramekins, just less than half full.

5. Add the Fresh Strawberries to the rest of the filling and blend on high. Fill up the ramekins to almost full.

6. For the topping, blend 3/4 cup Fresh Strawberries and 1/4 cup of Medjool Dates and blend on high until silky smooth. Pour a thin layer over the strawberry filling to finish the cheesecake!

6. Place in freezer until solid.

7. Remove from the freezer about 15-30 minutes before serving or if you are like me you might prefer to eat it when it's still frozen!

*Optional: Add Lime Zest for a little more zing to the lime filling!

Optimum 9400 Review!

I have found my new love!!!!!! Welcome to the Family Optimum 9400 :D

I've officially entered into the world of the High Speed Blender....known as The Optimum 9400 a.k.a Froothie! I was so excited for this little gem to arrive that I might have gotten a little too excited when the courier dropped it off! Carefully unpacking my new blender in anticipation, I was just in awe of how beautiful this blender is and it was love at first sight!

Isn't she just the prettiest, the shiny black finish is like a classic car and the hand dials and switches reminds me of a vintage radio, this my lovelies is my new favourite kitchen appliance and I am happy to display her in my kitchen for all to see! 

I have definitely had my fair share of blenders in my life, I had a cheap and nasty one that didn't last long and then I shelled out a couple of hundred for what seemed like a more sturdy one that was a great blender when I first bought it several years ago but has since lost it's seals so it leaks like a sieve.  It's not high powered enough to even break down a banana unless you let it blend for 3 or 4 minutes and by that time it's leaked so much that half of my smoothie was on the bench :(

Since my discovery of green smoothies and more plant based food I thought it was time for an upgrade. I looked into the Nutri-bullet and through searching reviews on that I found Froothie! The reviews on this blender absolutely blew me away and I knew immediately I wanted one and would love to be part of the Froothie revolution.  So I have become a Froothie Ambassador and I will be doing a series of recipes with this amazing machine that you can look forward in the months to come.

There are certainly your fair share of blenders out there and I think if you are using a generic blender or a Bullet for your smoothies and it's working then it's helping you on the path to a healthier you and that is the the most important thing. However, for those interested in something that can do so much more than just a standard blender or a bullet will ever do then listen up as to why the Optimum 9400 will probably change your life!

The blades are commercial grade, they can even blend paving stones into dust in just seconds!!! Now I don't imagine your or I will ever be grinding up rocks but it just goes to show how powerful this motor is at 2238 watts, 3 horsepower and 44,000 rpm, that's some serious power right there.

This blender while extremely powerful is a lot quieter than any other blender device I've ever used, it feels so smooth and seamless yet it blends ice and frozen fruit with ease in seconds, no little bits left floating around your smoothie!

I really love the pulse function as it ensures you won't "over process" your foods especially for making nut flours. One of my favourite design features is the rubber cushion pad, it's easy to line up, no little arrows or locking techniques that can be very annoying!

So I've had my Froothie for a couple of weeks now and I am rather impressed, I've made soups, nut butters, dressings, almond milk and plenty of smoothies! I noticed that I am using it daily, if not a couple times a day! Clean up is a breeze, you just squirt some detergent with some warm water then blend and boom it's clean!!!

In terms of price I think it is really affordable, while many of the commercial blenders like the Vitamix will set you back at least $1,000 which I'm sure is worth it, I don't imagine most people will spend that much on a blender. The Opimum range starts at $325, this one I'm reviewing is $499.

Powerful Industrial High Speed 2,238 watt Motor!
5 Year Domestic Warranty!
Precision High, Med, Low & Pulse Functions
Heat-Resistant Polycarbonate Jug (BPA Free) - Wet & Dry Applications
Approved by FDA, UL and the European Commission for Food Safety
30 Day Money Back Guarantee!
State of the art Two in One Stainless Steel 6-blade cutting assembly - Crushes ice, nuts and fruits in seconds

This Froothie Machine is so incredibly versatile!!! 

You can make:

Raw Desserts, Ice Cream and Frozen Fruit - Use the tamper to make homemade ice-cream with frozen berries, banana, mango etc..
Green Smoothies, Fruit Smoothies, Fresh fruit juice and Cocktails - it will easily blend unpeeled and uncut whole fruits and vegetables so you don't loose all the fiber.
Nut Butters, Nut Flour, Nut Milk
Hot Soups - the blender will heat your soup through friction heat (5-7 minutes)
Spreads and dips, chunky or silky smooth!

Just a wee recipe for this green smoothie that I love! It's so refreshing :D

1/2 cup coconut cream

1/2 cup coconut water

1 whole green apple, core and all
Handful of spinach
1/2 frozen banana
1/4 avocado
1 lime, peeled

Handful of Ice!

Please note I was provided with a Froothie Optimum 9400 as part of my role as brand ambassador and this post contains affiliate links, if you make a purchase through Primal Journey then I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!  If you’d like to know more about Froothie or this machine in particular, please visit the Froothie website for more details.

Beer Crate Gardens

I swear I've turned into a domestic goddess since we bought our first house, I have discovered a love of growing my own herbs and vegetables and I have even started growing my first Rose!!!

Hubby built me a couple of really large garden beds which have been wonderful for growing Broccoli, Swiss Chard, perpetual spinach and tuscan Kale through the winter and my herb planter boxes have been growing coriander, italian parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary, garlic chives and pineapple sage.

Now that it's spring I have planted some cos lettuce, butter crunch lettuce, celery, bok choy, more swiss chard, yellow courgette (zucchini) capsicum and chillies.  I ran out of room in my garden beds so I decided to use beer crates after seeing them on Instagram, I planted snow peas, strawberries and a whole lot of herbs, lemongrass, sage, basil, spicy basil, coriander and parsley.

So to make the beer crate gardens I used a good quality polythene (Mitre10) and used a staple gun to line them, don't forget to cut plenty of holes in the bottom for drainage!

The bottle store sells these for $6.90 each and they usually make you take the empty bottles with you, suffice to say we probably looked like alcoholics with the 6 bags full of pints I left out for the recycling today ;) 

These are my Red Dublin Bay roses which I am very proud of! I have never grown a rose in my life and thankfully these are very hardy! They will climb much bigger than this so I will need to sort out some trellis for them to climb up :D

Any gardening tips are very much appreciated for this newbie ;) Do you garden and what sort of things do you plant?

Site Redesign

Welcome to my new blog! The amazingly talented Tillie from Hello Tillie and The Poppy Creative has completely overhauled my site so that it is easier to navigate as well as being much more aesthetically pleasing. My blog has been running for 5 years with the basic blogger template so it was well overdue for an upgrade, I am absolutely thrilled with the work that Tillie has done. Tillie has been an absolute gem and wonderful to work with, especially when I changed my mind several times it was never a problem for her. Tillie has such brilliant design ideas, I feel lucky to have had the pleasure of working with her.

I have a new focus for my blog which is timely with the change of my site design. I love blogging and while it certainly has it's ups and downs it has been a therapeutic outlet for me for over five years now and I have met some really amazing people that I feel lucky to call friends. I chose to stay with the same name, I had thoughts of changing it months ago but after going back and forth between ideas I have decided that Primal Journey is here to stay.

My focus these days is less about weight loss and more about nourishment. When I began my journey all I wanted was to be healthy and when the weight dropped off my goal changed and all I cared about was that number on the scale. I'm happy to say that I've maintained my weight loss within a 5-10kg range and I think that's pretty amazing considering I initially lost 42kgs over five years ago, with the statistics stacked against me I technically should've gained all my weight back with interest!

So the future of my blogging is about maintaining a healthy body, mind and spirit and living my best life. To me that means nourishment not punishment, movement like walking, yoga and weights, work life balance, prioritising sleep and wind down time before bed with no technology, I've become a keen gardener, growing vegetables and roses, I never thought I would say that!

I am learning not to define myself by my body, a number on the scale or the size of my clothes, it's HARD!!! I've been that girl who lost 42kgs and I let that define me for a really long time. Underneath all of that is so much more, and my future is not going to be dictated by how I look.

So on a lighter and fresher note you can look forward to more nourishing recipes, they may not always be considered "primal" but they will always be made with real food! Positive body image, my love of fashion and interior design!

I thank you all for sticking around for so long and I hope I can continue to inspire and encourage you all to live your best life x