Friday, 5 October 2012

Big Bird. Week 10. Jungle Juice



“My next house won’t have a kitchen.  Just a vending machine.”
I’m all for a get rich quick scheme or in my case a get thin quick success story and any perceived, right or wrong, notion about the firming up of my road mapped tummy, I am putting down to the recent, regular consumption of Japanese Matcha Green Tea which I discovered by chance.  More on this anon.   I used to be the proud owner of a fek load of will power.  Honestly, I don’t know where I got it from.  I wish I could remember.  I still want svelteness as much as I did Back Then but today it is transpiring that just to want something isn’t enough.  You, apparently, have to go at and after it hell for leather.  My half stone is like an unwanted lodger; I just can’t get rid of the bastard.  I’m up and down like a yo-yo.  Running has given me legs and an arse I can just about live with, especially if I am wearing heels.  Which was only twice this year so far.  I really must get out more.   My upper arms and the dreaded bingo wings are toning up nicely thanks to a daily regime of weights first thing (yes!) in the morning and in the evening.  But the jelly belly is wobbling away like no-one’s business and this has to go.  It’s the bane of my life.  It’s a bit early to tell, but I think, there might be a slight improvement already.   All down to the aforementioned Matcha Green Tea.    And get a load of this!  Raw Rev Balls and Cacao & Coconut Slices.  I discovered these by chance too (kind of) and have been enjoying the tea (kind of) and the chocolate for the last week.  A friend recommended the Rev Balls (Raw Revolution Balls made from natural ingredients and completely dairy, gluten and sugar free) and I read about The Matcha Green Tea in a magazine.  This is appears to be amazing stuff altogether.  You make it up like a paste and dilute it with a little water.  Add it to a glass of juice to make it more palatable or a glass of fizzy water.  You can either neck it back or sip it throughout the day but not before bedtime.  It is recommended for low energy levels and cravings.  It boosts metabolism and burns calories.  It calms and relaxes, enhances your mood and aids concentration.  What else is this magic green beverage capable of?  It fights against viruses and bacteria, is rich in fibre, lowers cholesterol and blood sugar.  But what piqued my interest in it immediately, was the claim that it is good for treating mild depression.  I fired off a quick message to my local health food shop enquiring of its availability and got in there the next day to buy some.     I have always possessed a dormant leaning towards self-healing and anything holistic.  I dip in and out of it in a very fickle and fair weathered way.  I use it when it suits me, I suppose.  For example, when our first son started teething, I poured sachets of homeopathic granules down his throat with great success.    When Screecher Creature No. 2 came along the magic faery dust bit the dust and I used enough Nurofen to be given shares in the company.    Screecher Creature No. 3 didn’t fare any better with teething and this time I chose to let him sleep in his buggy by our bedside for some weeks in order to get more than two hours of unbroken sleep at night.  When our fourth boy came along I had, just the day before, received my do not mess with me diploma so he didn’t even try.  But me, well, I’ll try anything if there is the slightest hint that it will lift my mood.  After six months of swallowing several horse sized capsules of oil and white vitamin this and vitamin that tablets with no discernable improvement, I have latched onto this new fad like a drowning person onto a life raft.  Strong imagery I admit but it is almost winter and I am beating the blues before they beat me.  And almost a week into it I’m certainly not craving chocolate in the way I would normally be.   In fact, there is still an I-will-in-my-arse Share bag of Giant Chocolate Buttons in the fridge.  That in itself is a small miracle.  However, my Cacao & Coconut Slice got a slow death as it was torturously dragged out all week.  Every time I felt like something sweet, I hacked off a tiny piece.   I had to draw on every hidden vestige of will power to take only a nibble and return the rest.  At almost four euro a slice, it is not for gorging and definitely not for sharing!  Running this week has been going really well and I possibly had one of the best runs of my life so far mid-week with my sister and her friend.  The first run where I had company even if we were all plugged into our various music’s of choice.  We ran through the town and it was the quickest and most enjoyable half hour of pounding the pavement I have experienced in a long time.  I am thrilled to have found a way to keep running over the winter.  It is well lit, there is always motor and foot traffic and with the exception of an idiot or two driving too fast out of a side road, or laneway, safety is looked after.  But poor Mister Husband. “Well? Are you happy yet?” Like a child on Christmas morning, his little face and his eyes were alight with expectation.  How could I break it to him?  It was only Day Two, well Day Two and a Half and it is only a drink.  Granted one that looks like I have scooped the top layer of algae from a pond, but he was putting all his eggs in one basket, if he thought a snot green beverage was going to cure me.  Was I happy?  Well, I’m not unhappy.  Does that count?  But thinking about it, I didn’t have a cup of coffee all weekend.  At home that is.  Out and about is an entirely different matter. But cappuccinos aren’t coffee. Not really.  Maybe the Green Tea is working.  My energy levels aren’t “up” as such.  It’s more of a Duracell bunny electric fence buzz thing I have going on every time I finish a glass.  Kind of a sustained energy.    I definitely don’t seem as tired as I had been but when I fall into the scratcher at night I am out like a light in less than five minutes.  I still wish I had an extra five hours in the day for all that needs to get done but don’t we all? 
September 6th -   ten stone eleven and a quarter pounds
September 13th – ten stone eleven and three quarters of a pound
September 20th – ten stone twelve and a half pounds
September 27th – ten stone twelve and three quarters
October 5th – ten stone eleven and a half pounds (lost a pound and a half)

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