As clichéd as it is, many of us have made our resolutions for a healthier new year. Here’s what I am doing: a change in diet and exercise which transformed me over the summer. After eight weeks, I felt amazing, gained a ridiculous amount of energy and lost two dress sizes.
It was recommended to me to improve my health (not by a GP) and reduce the acid levels in my body. It allows plenty of healthy food and doesn’t include anything extra. However, please check with your doctor first if you have any pre-existing conditions.
The food part is the exclusion of dairy, yeast, sugar and vinegar. The exercise element is quite simply lots of it. It was a tough self-imposed and self-concocted exercise regime based entirely on what I enjoy. A secret ingredient was the support of Bianca Sainty, a local personal trainer and a member of my family. I have to warn you that all this does require a patient family, but if they join you—by default—they’ll also be glowing after a few weeks.
The Diet
How long: I was told I had to do it religiously for 14 days after which I could step it down, but I remained strict for eight weeks.
OUT: dairy. No butter, no cheese, no milk, no yoghurt. That means sticking to dairy-free margarine, soya / rice / almond / goat’s milk. Exception: You’re allowed eggs and goat’s cheese twice a week and I can tell you they taste amazing when they’re rare treats. I asked about portion sizes but my body rapidly stopped craving large amounts of my favourite foods so it was never an issue. I recommend Co-operative Dairy-Free margarine, almond milk in cereal (from most supermarkets), goat’s yoghurt from Waitrose and super-fancy goat’s cheese.
OUT: yeast and vinegar. No normal bread and no to most table sauces like mustard and mayonnaise (even dairy-free!). Doing this diet, I was surprised to discover that vinegar is in so much and it was the trickiest thing to exclude. I recommend sourdough bread and flatbreads from Waitrose, original soy sauce and seasoning nearly everything with olive oil and lemon.
OUT: sugar. None at all. So we’re talking no biscuits, no to most gluten-free bread and no to wine! I was allowed two portions of fruit a day but no mangoes, bananas or grapes. This is the one part of the diet which I did soften after two weeks, often snacking on fruit with nuts or oatcakes.
Alcohol and coffee: I was allowed one cup of coffee a day and one gin and Slimline tonic a day. I turned these two drinks into luxurious daily rituals. When there was a party, I carefully treated myself to two super-weak gin and tonics with lots of ice and lemon in a beautiful glass.
I was told that if after the first two weeks I craved sugar, I could have a teaspoonful of honey a day and a square of over 70 percent cocoa dark chocolate. The honey had to be manuka (Holland & Barrett do really good deals). However, I never found I wanted them.
Typical Meals
Breakfast consisted of either a couple of oatcakes with smoked salmon and lemon or peanut butter with fruit. Separately, after some exercise, I took the time to slowly sip a cup of coffee. Twice a week, I had eggs. This was a massive reduction from my usual breakfast—despite my increase in exercise—but always kept me content until lunchtime. And I rarely needed a snack between meals.
Lunch revolved around protein like houmous, beans, lentils, quinoa, chicken or fish with lots of salad and sometimes some sourdough bread. My need for bread rapidly vanished.
Dinner included a different protein from lunch, like red meat, and lots of cooked vegetables, once in a while with brown rice or pasta.
In between, I always had a packet of oatcakes and nuts in my bag for when my family had a snack.
Favourite meals included roast chicken; chicken, bean and chorizo stew; pastry-free goat’s cheese quiche and homemade hamburgers. I’ll comment on this article with the recipes if anyone wants them.
The Exercise
Okay, so it was summer and also childcare wasn’t an issue, but to give you an idea of the energy I had, I was swimming three times a day (about 15 minutes each, fast crawl), running every two days up steep hills (legs pounding, heart pumping, sweat pouring—sorry!), and after most runs, I did the seven-minute workout. Definitely check you have the right fitness level for your plans and if in doubt, check with your doctor.
No dent on the bank balance: I didn’t need to spend any money on a gym membership or special food; I did buy ten amazing yoga sessions for £19 on Living Social and I went everywhere on my bike. Food-wise, unusually for me, I went to Waitrose for special bread and some of the more specialised dairy-free products, but the lack of other expensive food meant our food bill remained the same (we usually shop only at Morrisons and locally).
Apparently nearly 80 percent of us fail to follow through on our New Year’s resolutions. This means if you don’t achieve yours, you’re by no means alone. But wouldn’t it be nice to join the 20 percent?
About the Author:
Alex Blackie is a Shepherd’s Bush writer, mother and big fan of the portfolio career. She’s published in the broadsheets, has a weekly column on Anglo-Australian family life in London, her own blog and loves working at Kite Studios. She spends most of her spare time writing stories and playing word games with her daughter. Photograph by Clara Molden.
