My New Jeans

My holistic journey has so far has had both its ups and downs. The one valuable lesson I have learnt so far - is to literally trust my gut! If it makes me feel rotten and bloated I simply don't eat it. It has not been easy but I have eliminated wheat and gluten, red meat and refined sugar from my diet and am feeling a lot better! I did it slowly one thing at a time. I also recognise that I am only human and its okay to cheat every once and awhile. I live by the 80-20 rule. 80% of the time I am a "good girl" and 20% of the time I give myself permission to be bad without any self loathing.  At least 70% of my diet is plant based- which I am loving!

To my surprise last week when I went to purchase a new pair of jeans I had to go down not one but two sizes!!!!!!! I realise its just a number and the real reward here is my improved health, still it was a proud moment for me! I did it without a scale or counting calories or following a diet. I simply listened to my gut!
YAY ME!!!

Organic on a Budget

In a perfect world we would all love to buy only organic, unfortunately this is not always possible. Fortunately, not all produce needs to be grown organically to be relatively safe. Every year the Environmental Working Group provides a list of the produce grown with the most pesticides(dirty dozen) and the least pesticides (clean fifteen).Try to buy your organic produce from the dirty dozen list.

Dirty Dozen                                                                                                                    

apples                    grapes

celery                     spinach, kale                                                     

bell peppers          snap peas                                                      

peaches                  cucumbers                                                    

strawberries          cherry tomatoes                                                   

nectarines               potatoes

Clean Fifteen

onion                          eggplant

sweet corn                  kiwi

pineapple                   cantaloupe

avocado                      sweet potatoes

cabbage                      grapefruit

sweet peas                   papaya

mangoes

cauliflower

asparagus                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                

Try buying your produce in season and buy locally. When out of season frozen produce is another option especially for smoothies and juices. ( remember choose organic when possible) .

Every year the EWG updates both the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen. These two lists are from the 2015 lists.