A new way of life.....

 I so want to clean up my diet. I'm not generally unhealthy. I don't always eat fast food and I rarely buy crisps and sugary snacks but I really want to clean it up properly.

I find it so frustrating that there are no healthy eating plans out there for girls like me who don't really want to lose weight but just want to be healthy. All I want is to maybe tone up some muscles and lose a little bit of fat that lingers right where it isn't wanted! I already have a gym plan and weight training....more on that another day. I just want a back-to-basics eating plan that I can keep up for life!

The other day I discovered the Clean and Lean plan by James Duigan. It goes back to basics and, yes it is mostly common-sense, but it lays everything out. What not to eat and drink and why....just what I wanted.

It starts with a 14 day kick-start where you cut out the CRAP (Caffeine, Refined Sugar, Alcohol and Processed food). I can have a cup of good quality, organic coffee a day but everything else is lean protein and complex carbohydrates.

For a while now I have known that certain foods have an affect on me, and not in a good way. Pasta and bread tend to make me feel bloated and uncomfortably full. I always figured I had a slight wheat intolerance but I thought it was fairly normal as I tend to eat quite large portions, especially at dinner. The Clean and Lean diet means that I will cut out all wheat-based foods so I am hoping that will put an end to that uncomfortable feeling.

Deciding when to start this is the tough part! I am going away this weekend and in a fortnights time. Although there won't be anything too heavy, I can guarantee there will be alcohol and bad food galore so there isn't much point starting the kick-start plan only to be interrupted half-way through. I don't want to delay too much but I also want to do it properly so I have decided to start by slowly cutting out the rubbish over the next week and starting the 14 day plan next Saturday.

I will post an update each day of the plan so I can share how it's going....wish me luck! xx

My carbon footprint and food waste....

Recently I have been making a concerted effort to recycle more. Not only is it becoming the thing to do but I was shocked at the amount of waste we throw away as a nation and as a planet. I measured my carbon footprint the other day and apparently I live like I am powering 2 planets instead of one and what I eat and where it comes from and how much I throw away plays a big part in that.

According to the Love Food, Hate Waste site, we throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food each year in the UK; food that could be eaten. This is more even than food packaging. If we stop wasting food we could cut CO2 emissions to the equivalent of taking 1 in 4 cars off the road! This is staggering. Doing our bit for the planet could be as simple as planning meals in advance, only buying what we need and recycling or composting the rest.

If it is that simple, why aren't more of us doing it? We live in a society that has grown accustomed to getting everything we want. In all aspects of our lives and even in a troubled economy we are lucky enough to be able to buy fresh food and fast food. I can't count the number of times I have bought food from the store and then headed to the take away for dinner because I can't be bothered to cook. Fresh fruit and veggies then rot in the fridge and I end up throwing it in the bin. The only justification is that I can do this. I am not restricted because I can afford to do it (most of the time anyway!) It just isn't good enough when there are famines in East Africa and children starving and farmers being driven off their lands by large corporations.

I have changed a lot of my food buying habits in the past few weeks. I now buy fruit and veg boxes weekly that contain just enough for that week. This means I not only eat more healthy but I do not waste anything from it. All the packaging is re-usable and the air miles minimal. I am also making use of the recycling services offered by my local council. They, like many other councils in Britain, are changing to fortnightly bin collections in the new year and so I have got my free bins and am recycling my plastic bottles, cardboard, glass, tins and paper. It's actually quite rewarding.

This may only sound like a little but I do believe that we can all make a difference by doing our bit to limit the food we waste. The long term advantages could be so great and let's face it there really is no excuse for allowing this waste of food to continue.

Home-made Christmas ideas

Some Christmas ideas. As I'm making my gifts this year, it's never too early! These sites have been bookmarked....

BBC Good Food - Christmas gifts

Delicious Magazine Christmas Gift Recipes:

Food Channel Christmas Hamper Ideas

I like the idea of doing mini Christmas cakes and some kind of chutney with cheeses and home-made biscuits.

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