I go from one diet to the next
I am constantly on a diet and seem to go from one to the next. I have lost weight and put it back on more times than I care to remember. I can tell you the calorie content of most meals and I weigh myself at least once a day. I know I am obsessed but I cannot stop. I am never happy with the weight I am.
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I was a junk food addict
For over 30 years I lived on a diet of junk food, alcohol and cigarettes.
I was getting stressed at work and my stepmother suggested I try a yoga class. Never one to do things by halves, after just two sessions I’d booked myself onto a yoga holiday in Turkey. Wobbling through classes, unable to touch my toes, I felt quite faint quite often.
There was no coffee or tea, breakfast was piles of fresh fruit with yogurt, seeds and honey. Lunch was delicious goat’s cheese tarts and exotic salads. I had a thumping caffeine-withdrawal headache for 72 hours but by the end of the week I felt a glimmer of new-found peacefulness.
Despite going back for seconds at every meal I came back lighter and feeling as if I had shed layers of tension along with the pounds. My eyes and skin were clear and I felt lighter. I felt the difference a healthy diet could make to your spirit as well as your body, and my life turned around.
I had my kitchen refurbished and went to local markets to buy brown rice and spelt bread. I began practising yoga daily and explored all facets of it. The yogic diet is sattvic (pure), based on Ayurvedic principles and designed to enhance clarity of body and mind. I dramatically reduced my meat intake, stayed off coffee and opted for more fresh vegetables, fruit and wholegrains. I went strictly vegetarian during a six month trip to India but my first meal home was chicken and I realised I was a meat-eater at heart. Now I opt for free-range chicken and organic steak now and then.
I have lost 2 dress sizes but it’s not about that. Now I see food as medicine, the root of wellbeing. I have reintroduced my favourite things and that’s medicinal too, good for the soul. Being healthy is one thing, but you can’t be a bore about it!
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I needed to put on weight
After a painful divorce I lost my appetite and just couldn’t face food. I lost weight – but far too much – and was becoming ill. A friend recommended a herbalist who in turn recommended that I take red ginseng. This had immediate effect, increasing my appetite sufficiently that I was able to eat again and return to health.