Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Day 2 of the "throw down" - and cold shower stuff.

Well, I managed to survive day one of Robynn's 30-day throw down challenge - and I have to say that I did well with it. (here in Oz, we're a day ahead of you gals in the US - so we started a day earlier.)
It just involves thinking about what I put into my mouth, and ever since Robynn challenged us,
I've been shopping accordingly.
No more highly processed foods, healthier choices... Really simple things, really.

My first full day consisted of:

Breakfast: 2 Weetbix, topped with a sliced banana, and organic, raw milk.
Coffee, no sugar or sweetener, with raw milk.
(In regards to the Weetbix, I'm happy to say that Australia is totally into recycling, and it's amazing that they can recycle cardboard into a semi-palatable breakfast cereal. Well, just joking, but I have to admit that I've examined my cereal more than once, looking for traces of printing labels)

Morning tea: 2 Saltine crackers with butter and Vegemite, a handful of sliced raw capsicums (bell peppers) cucumber and carrot sticks, and a small piece of Jarlsberg cheese.

Lunch: Tuna on crispbread, homemade yogurt and an apple with cheddar cheese

Afternoon tea: Fruit salad, made from apples, kiwi's, bananas, grapes, mandarins, topped with a dollop of yogurt and some finely chopped walnuts. (the kids LOVE this, so we make it several times a week!)

Dinner: A big ol' Caesar salad, and less than half an Angus burger from McDonald's. (okay, I know it's fast food, but I went for the healthier choice - and only had less than half of it. It's a start... isn't it?)

~~~~~~~~
Now, on to the cold shower thing...
I might not have explained myself fully.
See, 2 years ago, my blood pressure was through the roof, (190 over 100) and I made some dietary changes, as well as starting on blood pressure meds.
I hated those darn things, but I was bound and determined to get off them and get the blood pressure controlled in a more natural way.
Diet itself just wasn't cutting it - although it was helping (it's a hereditary thing) - so I started on taking the cold showers... and it worked! Six months later, and with the doctors full blessing, I stopped taking the BP meds entirely.
That was enough reason for continuing with the morning semi-torture, as far as I'm concerned.
But... I found that I also like the way I feel afterwards. I think the heat/cold thing releases endorphins, and by the time I'm dried and dressed, I feel like I can tackle anything!
I feel good... like I've just had a brisk walk or something. I'm bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and man...it just feels wonderful!
It doesn't have to be an instant icy change... or even icy cold at all. I just like it that way.
Even just turning down the hot water just until you get a little "brrrr-y", does basically the same thing.
Hot to tepid or cool is fine... just as long as you feel just a titch uncomfortable.
Screaming isn't really necessary.... I just like freaking the neighbor out.

9 comments:

Bren Haas said...

Hey Friend - Happy September to you from my garden in the Midwest. Love the menu you provide. SOUNDS LIKE A WONDERFUL DAY!

Joolz said...

Well Kate I think you were doing well until you got to the Angus burger! But as you say, half is better than a whole. By the way, was is gooood?
And I totally get the cold shower thing - I am a hot bod (in the temperature sense, only) and in summer time I love to finish off with a blast of cold. Zing!
Keep up the good work - I may do a fresh fruit salad for sweets tonight. We're having lemon chicken stir-fry with hokkien noodles so check it out at SimplyJoolz.

Cheers - Joolz

Fruitcake Sandy said...

Oh Katie ... I was hooked ... reading your posting while nodding my head in agreement (and a bit of envy concerning the two tea times, you see, I'm really a closet Angiophile) oh yes, girlfriend, you were really cooking ... right up until the McDonald burger! Oh, hang it all, half is much better than the whole thing! Keep up the good work ... :>)

Libby's Library said...

This week will probably be pretty easy - no car..no driver...no fast food temptations!

But NO COLD SHOWER - do you hear me?
I'd have a heart attack. Now that I'm on thyroid meds, it doesn't have to be scalding any more...but cold - now way Jose! Besides, I'm scary enough when nekid, dripping wet and scalded pink...can you imagine blue and goosepimplyish. Yikes. I could give someone else a heart attack.

No I'm thinking to myself..."self, how am I gonna work the BIG C into this comment?" Dang but I'm good :-D

Fruitcake Sandy said...

LOL .. sorry, a certain little 'red pen' I know pointed out that she didn't know what the heck 'angiophile' was ... well, duh!!! .. guess my nursing "angio" prefix got typed rather than "Anglophile"

The Blonde Duck said...

Whew! Sounds like you're getting healthy!

Katidids said...

Sounds like your doing well! We did the same basic thing with our diets a yr ago, and switched to using the salad plate instead of the dinner plate. Its amazing how much less food we eat! We can go for seconds but are satisfied with the smaller portions. Cool showers are fine for summer but winter? brrrrr nowway!

Marjie said...

I love your description of Weetbix. I haven't eaten junk food in years, because I really didn't want to pay the price for 11 people to eat Twinkies forever. And you just try walking into McDonalds and ordering 20 burgers and 11 orders of fries, or thereabouts. People will be truly frightened. I admire your efforts to start on Robynn's challenge!

My BP is normally 90/60 or less. I have had doctors force me to sit down because they were sure I would faint. But now I get your cold shower thing.

Homestay Mama said...

I have to laugh! My word verification is "misin." I haven't been around much lately. Have you been misin me? :-)

My nice little part-time job (10 hours per week) has now become full time and I don't have time to do anything fun anymore! :-( But I really can't complain. In these economic times, when people's jobs are being cut back or even eliminated, it is a rarity to have one's hours increased. So I'm very thankful for my job. I'm just sad that I haven't had time to keep up with my friends in Blogland.

But I am still participating in Robynn's throw down and eating healthy food and going for a half-hour brisk walk every morning. And I'm feeling much better already! But no cold showers for me! Makes me shiver just thinking about it.


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