fun workplace

It has been an interesting few days, and I admit that I haven't been in the best form ever (the glandy is still getting the better of me!), but yesterday totally cheered me up.

My colleague/friend Cheynee turns the ripe old age of 24 today, so yesterday we celebrated at work. My boss Megan organised a "high tea" in the break room (she spent the night before work baking up a storm- what a champ), and get this: IT WAS ALL VEGAN. Now, I am the only vegan in the team, everyone else is happily omnivorous, so it felt very special and meant a lot to me that I could join in on the fun. I love birthdays.

The delicacies included spinach and "cheese" pastries, vanilla cupcakes, cucumber sandwiches and spa water to wash it all down with. It was amazing, and I may or may not have eaten so much that I had to sleep it off during my break. Yesterday was extremely indulgent...I think I might have to eat lots of vegetables in the next few days to balance it out. Happy to do so, and it was totes worth it.

French theme, very cute

Happy birthday Cheynee!

lovely weekend

I had an excellent weekend, and am on day three of my "no processed foods or crap sugar" run. So far it is going well. I am starting my day today with a large glass of warm water with half a lemon squeezed into it- it is one of my big organic lemons, and it meant business! Left actual froth in my glass and the water is pale yellow. A lot different to the lemon water that I make with supermarket lemons, which hardly leave a trace.

I have been sticking to whole foods like kale, sweet potato, buckwheat, fruit, seeds, sprouted bread and vegetable soups. I feel pretty good- I even had the energy to go to the gym twice in a row, which hardly ever happens these days!

Yesterday my  fiance (I just like saying "fiance," and soon I will be able to say "husband," OMFG!) treated me to a day full of things that I wanted to do, and it was wonderful. I got a massage, we ate sweet potato fries, he did my washing, we watched a film...very fun and lovely indeed. He is the best. I love him. Obviously. The day before yesterday I got a much-needed haircut from my good friend Cheynee (she brought her tools and gave me a haircut in the comfort of my own kitchen- very cool), which also helped make it the best weekend ever. It looks awesome, and that is not something I very often feel about my hair. She will now be on permanent hairdresser emergency call for me- thanks, Cheynee!

The film Luke and I watched was "Warm Bodies" with Teresa Palmer and Nicholas Hoult, and it was deeply moving to me. It could be loosely described as a zombie romance, but it is SO much more that that. There were parts of it where I had tears in my eyes. A lot of parts, actually. Watch it now, preferably with a loved one by your side and a delicious bowl of vegan snacks in your lap, and do yourself/your heart/your brain a favour.

Now I am going to go get some nice wholegrain hot cereal and do a spot of reading in bed before starting my day. Yoga tonight, too- woo hoo!

Try to look at the nice hair, not the "Blue Steel" facial expression!

Leftover hot cereal for breakfast

sugar crash

Today I went crazy and devoured a tonne of chocolate-chip cookies (vegan, of course!) over the course of the day. Also, there were no surprises: as a result I also felt lethargic, unmotivated and slightly flu-ey and unwell. I spent most of the day feeling crappy in bed, emerged to read and eat, and thankfully managed to drag myself to go for a walk with my brother.

To combat any further feelings of ill health, I will have a bit of a sugar detox week, or at least a few days (three minimum!). I just detest the way that once I start eating something crappy and sugary I find it really hard to stop eating it. As I tell my clients who also struggle with the power that sugar has over them, simply- SUGAR IS LIKE CRACK. Best to just avoid it best you can and save yourself the trouble. As I plan to.

I want the next few days to clean me up and comprise mostly of greens, other vegetables, complex carbohydrates like brown rice and sweet potato, some nice breakfast grains with fruit, as well as nuts, seeds and a bit of healthy oil. I am a coconut oil fanatic (admittedly after a few years of skepticism). To hydrate myself: water with lemon juice- a lovely client gifted me with a giant bag of organic lemons from her tree, so there are no excuses there- apple cider vinegar, herbal teas (including chai, I don't mind minimal caffeine), and green smoothies. Off the list: processed food (including those damn cookies!) with the exception of raw food bars. I will avoid bread for the next few days as well. I just need to feel good in my body again.

Me and my lovely fur baby

Sandwich with tahini, sultanas, carrot and sprouts

sleep, work, chia seeds

Vegan update: still loving it! And staying strict about it, which I also weirdly love. Today I walked into work and there were (non-vegan) cupcakes everywhere! Now, they looked incredible, I love cupcakes, but it didn't even feel like a test of willpower or anything. I was expecting it to be harder to give up some of the foods I ate before, but it just...isn't hard. I am vegan now, I do not eat lovely animals or their products, and that food item therefore does not appeal to me. Plus I don't really want nasty refined sugars and flours in my body right now, as I am doing my best to eat mostly wholefoods, look after myself and get better.

I had a good day today, I just felt pretty happy even though I am having some sort of weird glandy relapse or something. Woke up, ate Crocodile Crunch for breakfast with a coffee, had a shower, took my little Toto for a brisk walk in the nice winter sunshine, had a nap, and went off to work. I was quite productive there as well which I felt pleased about.

Now I am baking some vegan black bean brownies to bring to work tomorrow for Grace's birthday celebrations. We have a meeting, but instead of talking business the whole time we might just eat and giggle for a while, then talk business. I have a really awesome team and I love my workplace.

Sneaking some chia pudding in between clients

I put some almond butter in there too

monday

Today was pretty busy, even though I didn't have work today. I got up, ate some delicious "pink oats" for breakfast, showered, dressed and started my day.

First stop was going to the government shopfront (which I always dread, for no logical reason) to renew my driver's licence. Such a grown up! The photograph didn't look so hot but I am not enough of a fusspot to get it taken again. And I suppose I will have to get it renewed in seven months or so when I get married and change my surname anyway, so who cares?

Next was spending time with one of my best girls, Grace! It was her 23rd birthday today, so we had an extremely low-key hang out to celebrate. We chatted, drank green smoothies, ate a plain bowl of brown rice (which sounds boring but is actually delicious) and watched "Bridesmaids." Grace and I are both kind of low-maintenance so it was a good day.

Multitasking

Bottom's up!

coconut water

Well. I haven't written in a couple of days as honestly I have been feeling really emotional and prone to upset and didn't feel like communicating. I think the focus this week will have to be staying calm and doing simple activities that relax and rejuvenate my brain, like cooking and patting the dog. Seriously, I have been a total nutcase. Sorry Luke. I love you so much.

Perhaps the plan this week could look a bit like this: I will have a nice bath with Epsom salts and candles, up the green smoothie intake, get some light exercise (yoga class on Monday!) and spray my Australian Bushflower Essences "Space Clearing" mist around my bedroom and study area. I really like the idea of eliminating negative energy, which leads me to...mala beads!

I have been beyond obsessed with these mala beads from Tiny Devotions, and after a month or so of intense deliberation I decided yesterday to make a purchase (even though I strongly suspected that the purchase would send me into near-financial ruin, which it did: I am such an idiot).

Thankfully the mala I chose contains a dalmatian jasper stone, which is said to be nurturing and promote healing as well as protecting against depression and negative thinking. Jaspers are also supposed to help with boosting the immune system and detoxing the body, which is a bonus for me as I am still suffering from the effects of glandular fever and it has been a pretty rough year physically. Plus, the mala itself is BEAUTIFUL. I had narrowed my choices down to four, but the dalmatian jasper just pulled me in and I just felt it was the one for me. Sweet.

An afternoon treat

Even though I have been a total mess, I got my shit together and had my parents over for dinner last night and it was lovely. I made pumpkin soup with some olive sourdough bread from the food market, and chased it up with a raw avocado cheesecake (I know, I make it a lot, but it is amazing!). I always like having them over because Dad is super busy with work and university, and Mum is always cooking for everyone else, so it is my way of nurturing them back. Hi Mum! Thanks for coming over and eating my vegan food!

The bonus of giving some love to people through the medium of cooking dinner is that I got to keep all the leftovers. The fridge is stocked with delicious homemade vegan food now. Winning.

bleargh

I feel so sick today! Why is my face so puffy? The lymph nodes in my neck feel like brazil nuts. My throat hurts. I want to go back to bed and I only just got up. Thoughts of the day.

Anyhoo. Last night Luke ended up getting me vegan takeaway for dinner, which is very much a treat! So that was nice. He got himself some Subway and we settled in for the night and watched "The Breakfast Club." I think I ate way too much processed food yesterday though, so I am going to try and have a fairly clean day today food-wise.

I think I might just crawl back into bed where I belong now.

Hawt

Tofu and cacao pudding with banana