To Boost or Not to Boost? - Day Ten

Please excuse me if I write this in a slight state of euphoria. I feel like I should be wrapped in an aluminium sheet, glowing from my marathon-like exertions and grinning triumphantly at the aghast crowd.

But alas, I am alone at my laptop with a herbal tea. Well, a herbal tea and a rising sense of self satisfaction. I only went and bloody well did it. Ten whole days of wholesome, natural, purifying food. Lots of sleep. Lots of nurturing. And lots of education.

Breakfast: Eggs, strawberries & blueberries, Lunch: Veg stir fry with salmon, Dinner: Chickpea & tuna casserole, quinoa & sweet potato wedges

So what now? Well, to be honest, probably more of the same. I shall be making certain concessions (I think we all know what they might be) but mostly I am sticking to this 'eating clean' concept which Helen McCrea so brilliantly promotes. I am ecstatic with the results. I feel alert. I feel calm. I've lost a few inches and - most importantly - I've learned so much more than I could have imagined.

I'm not going to tell you it all. Helen's the one to do that. But I will tell you that what I've learned is enough to change the way I feel about my day-to-day eating habits. If nothing else, I am much more conscious about what I am putting into my body. I don't feel stressed about it. I just feel conscious.

Not an option folks

I think we've probably all giggled at that saying, 'My body is a temple' at one time or another. But hang on a second, isn't there something in that? I'm swinging round to the opinion (and yes, I have nicked this out of a personal development book) that my body really is a gift from my parents.

A gift. A treasure. In this body I can cuddle my sons. I can stroke a dog. I can see the sunrise. I can talk for an inexcusably long time on the phone to old friends (you know who you are). I can think, I can dream, I can act, I can love. This body is bloody amazing!

I have some very well-intentioned friends who gasped in horror when they found out I was going on this detox. I suppose that's because detoxes are related to extreme weight loss, and those friends don't consider me to be someone who needs to lose weight. But that was their assumption. Yes, weight loss might happen (although Helen will tell you inch loss is far more telling) but I wanted to give something back to my body after all its given me.

Bless it, the poor thing deserves to be loved and nourished. I think we'll get along far better if we can look after each other.

Thanks to everyone who has followed this blog whilst I've been detoxing . . . your support has been just the ticket. And well done to all the other girls on the 10 Day Body Boost . . . it made a big difference knowing we were all in it together.

And Helen, you lovely lady you . . . what an experience! Thank you so much and please keep doing what you do because us ladies need to learn how to give our bodies a bit of TLC.

Go well,

Abi

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To Boost or Not to Boost? - Day Seven

Sundays, eh? Who else has been ironing? Who else has been Tot-watching? Who else has done an amalgamation of both plus many, many other household tasks you have cunningly avoided during the week? Join the club.

Circus act

Poor Big Tot. He loves his weekends, chiefly (although he may not always admit it) because he gets long stretches of mummy time uninterrupted by inconvenient events like school. But if I haven't been very on-task during the week, then he has to share me with the demands of the house when it comes to Sunday.

My failure to fulfill all my tasks this week has been down to the detox to end all detoxes. Eating 'clean' as my nutrition guru, Helen McCrea calls it, commands immense skills in organisation and planning. Whipping up a veggie soup here, defrosting a fish there . . . and bearing in mind that the Tots and the hubby refuse to eat my detox food, I have, at times, had to create three separate meals three times a day. Madness.

So Big Tot has followed me round the house all day (Little Tot is happy dissecting Buzz Lightyear and sucking felt tips) asking me questions and forcing me to face unfavourable topics of discussion. Let me give you an example:

Big Tot: Will you be forty one day?

Me: Yes sweetheart, I will.

Big Tot: What will happen?

Me: Nothing.

Big Tot: I asked . . . What.Will. Happen?!

Me: (sigh) Nothing will happen. I'll just be forty.

Big Tot: I'll tell you what will happen. You will need help with everything.

Me: Will I?

Big Tot: Yes, because everything will be too hard for you.

Me: Just because I'm forty?

Big Tot: Yes. Forty is very, very old.

Me: What kind of help will I need?

Big Tot: You'll need help with everything. Washing the dishes, getting your pyjamas on, doing your hair, driving the car . . .

Me: Oh. I didn't realise being forty was going to be so hard.

Big Tot: Yes it will be. Do you know why? Because it's very oooold.

And bearing in mind that I turn thirty-five in a couple of weeks, the extreme oldness which Big Tot so eloquently describes is closing in fast. So what can I do about it?

Well, as far as I'm aware, some of the best foods for anti-aging are: berries, salmon, kale, spinach, avacado, green tea, coconut oil, almonds, tomatoes, garlic . . . now stop me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that sounds suspiciously like a detox?

Breakfast: Eggs, cucumber, tomato & olives, Lunch: Mackerel, homemade houmus, mushrooms, salad & boiled egg, Dinner: Brown rice, charred aubergine slices & Menemen (Turkish egg dish)

Does that mean I'm on the right track then? If I continue to eat well, do you think I'll be able to do my own hair when I'm forty? I hope so. I don't fancy giving Big Tot free reign with the hairspray.

Luckily, once this 10-day Body Boost programme is finished, Helen will be giving us ladies a maintenance plan to send us off into non-detox land safely and happily. She's even started to advise on the 'cleanest' alcoholic drinks if we feel we must indulge. Champagne was top of the list. So guess what I'll be doing on my thirty-fifth birthday?

Go well,

Abi


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