Clay Jar People

After months (if I think about it, probably years) of feeling bloated and uncomfortable every day of my life, having mild eczema, weird rashes, headaches, crazy PMS, fatigue and struggling to lose weight, I finally went for allergy tests.

Saskia Etschmaier via weheartit

Turns out, after a looong test (involving cables, machines, electrodes and all such scientific gadgets), I am very allergic to dairy and mildly to wheat. All of my discomforts are apparently due to these allergens. I have embarked on the interesting, and challenging journey that is dairy and wheat free… and just for fun I’m trying to limit my sugar intake, yet again. Can you say “fun times”?

Seriously, I am so glad to finally have some kind of answer to my issues, I though I was weird! But now that I know I can do something to prevent all the horrible discomforts, I am fully in it. I have also had to start taking extra supplements, calcium (no dairy wrecks the calcium input) and vit B complex (should help the fatigue and loss of energy).

What bugs me though, is how dairy and wheat is in EVERYTHING! Crackerbread, which one would think may be dairy free, contains milk solids… this is the maize and rye ones. I drink rice milk in my coffee and such, as soya is out (see PCOS). Cheese is out. Yogurt is out. I have never been a huge fruit fan, but am going to have to force myself to eat fruit and more veggies, just to get some kind of variety. Luckily, my parents are in the blood type diet, and bake rye bread often, so I just get some from my mom. I would bake my own, but heck, I couldn’t eat the whole loaf alone. I am very happy to say, I have found a brand of pasta that is made from maize, now, it does state on the package that it might contain traces of wheat, but since my allergy to wheat is mild, I figure it worth a go. A girl has to have her pasta! It tastes AMAZING with tomato mix/marinara and stir fry veggies.

I have discovered some cool blogs with allergy-related recipes, mostly gluten-free, but thats safe for me, provided they are dairy free too. I am hoping to try some scones this weekend, and also pizza :) no idea what to put on pizza that can’t have cheese on… :( but I’m sure I’ll figure it out.

Anyone else dairy-allergic? Wheat? Send me your ideas/ tips/ recipes/ condolences/ encouragement ;)

I hope you found yesterdays post informative and helpful. Today I’ll just give a short post on one of my “favourite” topics, Weight Loss…

Image source via weheartit

Coconut oil is very useful for weight loss. It contains short and medium-chain fatty acids that help in taking off excessive weight. It is also easy to digest and it helps in healthy functioning of the thyroid and enzymes systems. Further, it increases the body metabolism by removing stress on pancreases, thereby burning out more energy and helping obese and overweight people reduce their weight. Hence, people living in tropical coastal areas, who eat coconut oil daily as their primary cooking oil, are normally not fat, obese or overweight.

(Information reference)

Its been suggested that one eats a spoonful of coconut oil daily to increase metabolism. It yummy enough :) I’d try it in food rather, or in a smoothie. My personal favourite is this healthy fudge – I would suggest a touch less cocoa though. Its delicious and healthy!

Please come back for more on this topic this week:

1. The 8th Wonder of the World: Coconut Oil – Beauty
2. The 8th Wonder of the World: Coconut Oil – Weight Loss
3. The 8th Wonder of the World: Coconut Oil – Health
4. The 8th Wonder of the World: Coconut Oil – Baby

I’ve never had the perfect figure.

I used to be really thin, in school, when I still did sport. But sadly I did pick up weight slowly after school… losing a ton before the wedding, and picking up more, then losing a whole bunch just before I got pregnant again. While I was pregnant I picked up near on 20 kilograms – which really isn’t so cool, but I enjoyed the chocolates. The thing is, even though I have now lost more than half the weight I gained in pregnancy, my body has changed…

My tummy looks like a roadmap of Cape Town, with the stretch marks. The muscles are weak, there is a huge ugly scar below my belly button. Although my pre-pregnancy clothes fit, they don’t close around my tummy. Its frustrating, and sometimes I get crazy with envy when I walk past the fit, slim girls who have no kids, in their tight jeans.

Then I look at my son.

For nine months he grew inside me, he was nurtured by my body. He grew and grew, and stretched my skin, growing into a kicking little person. They had to cut him out, leaving a forever reminder. Now he’s fed by my body, he’s grown into this beautiful 3 month old little boy, a strong little boy. My body has worked hard, its stretched and pulled and been cut for this little miracle.

Yes, I have weight to lose, from before I was pregnant even. I will never have a flat smooth stomach, I will not be able to wear a bikini in public (not that I really would, modesty and all). But what I have to show for it, is something way more precious, way more beautiful, way more lasting than a perfect body.

I wouldn’t change my body for the world… and its taken me 24 years to realise that.

image source

I might get my pre-baby weight back — I have no idea, we’ll see — but the landscape has changed now. What’s stretched will probably not unstretch, my A-cup breasts (which are currently a C-cup) are not going to be as perky unless I surgically encourage them, my hips despite my small frame will probably never be quite as narrow, and my ass, frankly, looks like a road map. That may fade, but it’s not going to disappear. I have cellulite now. The body I had before motherhood is not going to be the body I have after motherhood, and that’s okay. IT’S ALL OKAY!

I, with the help of the man I love more than anything, AM MAKING A BABY. A little person who will talk and grow and learn and have opinions and wear questionable outfits and get dirty and fall off her bike, who will have friends and sleepovers and good days and bad days, who is already making me happier than I can even describe and will also probably drive me crazy, who will read books and knock things over, who will want and need and like and dislike things.

The idea of a daughter is approximately one million times more exciting than the idea of having my “pre-baby body” forever, and I have nothing but respect for what will be my post-baby body. My body was awesome before, my body is awesome now, and my body will be awesome after I give birth.

I just read the above in this post, and found it most encouraging actually. Nice to know I’m not alone :)

Needless to say its been a major fail… I think I will be trying the approach of less sugar rather than total removal. Pregnancy does not lend itself to cutting out one thing dramatically, and since I have to cut out chocolate when I’m breastfeeding, I think I shall wait till then. Yes, I am a failure and a fader, yes I know. But I will eat healthily and cut down on the sugar for now… Sorry guys…

Yesterday was a bad day for me, pregnancy-infused mood and lack of sugary goodness drove me mad. I had a homemade dagwood for breakfast – mostly because it was left over. It was good, but more like a rock than filling. We went to the bank the morning and did some looking around for maternity clothes, which further caused my frustrations to increase when I a) couldn’t find anything that was in my budget and b) the things i loved wouldn’t fit in a month or so, so it was pointless. I tried to cheer myself by having a Marcel’s Frozen Yogurt, but that only helped for a short time.

Lunch was a roll with avo, tomato and a leftover burger patty… was yummy… but still not totally sugar free. Its all in the working out the white bread which is in the house. I then watched movies to relax, which helped… but the heartburn caught up, so I had some yogurt to see if that would help. It did, temporarily.

We went to Canal Walk to meet Chris’s parents for coffee, and I had a maple spice latte, which was good, but not as good as I expected. Chris had peppermint tart, and I was dying for chocolate cake, but he luckily held me back :( Tried looking for maternity wear there, and was again disappointed… Stupid stores that try to make money…

For supper I was basically back on track, and made yummy low GI pancakes filled with chicken and mushroom and cheese. I did have one with a teaspoon of cinnamon sugar and lemon juice… Made me feel slightly better. However I snuck some chocolate, as the pregnancy mags I was sorting yesterday said that eating chocolate 5 times a week, lowers the risk of pre-eclampsia… and who wouldn’t want to do that…

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So I started the sugar free lifestyle today… again, but I am determined this time… so far. Since I decided to do so after breakfast, I guess my banana breakfast muffins don’t count… But for the most part I have done well so far. I drank me tea without sugar, which was not the nicest thing ever, but I managed. I drank ALOT more water than usual. Please note, in cutting out sugar, I will still eat fruit and drink pure fruit juice, and sugar free drinks. I am also going to try to eliminate refined carbs as far as possible, but in an effort to also remain frugal, I am not going to be throwing out food that is still edible.

For lunch I went to La Romantica with my mom, and we were very good girls and ate a DIVINE smoked chicken and avo salad, which was served with tiny pieces of baguette. It was soooo yummy, there was rocket, bacon, smoked chicken, rosa tomatoes, feta and pecorino in it…. Man I could live on salads like that. Its also super filling and healthy… I haven’t snacked since then. Ok I lie, I was helping my mom pack for their weekend away, and had a piece of banana bread, but my mom makes her food very healthy, so I’m turning a blind eye…

I ended up buying a box of Xylitol sachets, just to kill the bitterness of tea and coffee, which is nice, its not as sweet as sugar, but helps alot. I intend to keep it for the “special” occasions though,and see if I can manage without sweeteners. On a side note – the reason I bought xylitol and not something like Canderel or Equisweet is because artificial sweeteners are gross and have potential cancer causing ingredients.

For supper, I am giving my sugar-monster and a friend, hot dogs on normal white rolls, which is a decent Friday night meal, in my house. I will be having a whole wheat roll (which will probably still give me heartburn and have sugars in – but its better than white) – with cheese and tomato, as I am also trying to avoid processed meats – for baby’s sake.

All in all I think I have done ALOT better today than usual.Now let’s just pray I can maintain this healthy lifestyle, and have a happy pregnancy further. (I have found some great sites with sugar free yumminess on, will share them soon… as soon as I have tried making the yumminess – I will also try some of the low GI recipes my mom has).

Ok that’s over exaggerated… But this is going to be my umpteenth attempt at going sugar free. A friend on Facebook had as her status this morning: “Have decided to try going gluten, sugar and dairy free.” Which mad me think again about how much healthier and more energised I felt when I was sugar free. It was very difficult, but totally worth it. I love sugar – and chocolate, and white bread… oh me oh my… BUT I really want to get healthy again. In truth I have let myself go a bit since the start of this pregnancy, so its time to get my act together. Sugar is bad for baby anyway, so why am I stuffing my face with it?

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The scary thing is that there is sugar in EVERYTHING, even things which aren’t meant to be sugary have sugar in them… I mean how much sense does that make? I’m lucky that being home, I can control my sugar intake more, as there aren’t the temptations of other people’s yummy lunches and all… But I am also a huge baking fan… muffins, cupcakes, brownies… etc…And well, my brownies are sugar-heaven. So to start with I am scrounging up all the recipes I can find that are sugar free – and frugal! Thats a big thing too! I found this brownie recipe this morning on Naturally Knocked Up… and intend to try it at the next celebratory event… with some practical tweaks of my own. Oh, its gluten free too… which is a bonus, even though I am not going that route yet.

Healthy Grain Free Brownies
2 cups black beans (or 1 can of no salt added) [i'm going with butter beans - don't think we even get black beans here]
3 lightly beaten eggs
1/3 cup melted coconut oil (or melted butter) [butter it is]
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey (or other equivalent sweetener)
1/2 cup chopped up bittersweet chocolate (or semi-sweet chips if you don’t mind the added refined sugar in them)
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts -optional [no nuts for me]
Making these could NOT be simpler. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8×8 pan. Toss all but the final 2 ingredients (the chopped up chocolate and walnuts) into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Fold in the chopped chocolate and walnuts. Pour into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes.

I will let you know on my OTHER blog how it went and it the tweaking worked…

WHO’S GOING TO JOIN ME???

I have been eating very healthy for the last few months, in order to lose weight and be generally healthier. Its been going well, and I’ve noticed the difference.

But since last weekend in Mosselbay, I have been struggling to get back on track. Been eating junk, and refined food again. Pizza last night… and again for lunch… well my body has had enough. I feel so sick today from all the rubbish. My stomach hurts, and I feel nauseous and bloated. Added to which I picked up 200g in the last week… So from NOW its back to all healthy, natural fibre-filled goodness.

Check out Naturally Knocked Up, Passionate Homemaking and Keeper of the Home for recipes and tips on healthy eating.

1. Get my first tattoo

2. Cut a solid-Zooey-Deschanel style fringe

3. Make some cute vintage style dresses and buy a HOT pair of jeans

4. Buy dancing shoes

5. Climb Table Mountain

What are your goals for this year? And what will you do when you reach them?