Happy New Year to all my blog readers 🙂

I ended 2014 the way I spent too much of it i.e. eating too much and too much of the wrong food.  I think I ate half my body weight in chocolate!  I celebrated the new year with neighbours and friends of Marion and Colin which was very handy as they live over the road so only a very short totter home.

We had an Italian themed dinner and everyone brought along a dish.  I enjoyed everything I ate and everything I drank. I particularly enjoyed all the gorgeous company. What a great space to have a party in and what a great party we had in this space. It is fair to say that things did all get a bit blurry but at the time it was all great fun and it was a brilliant way to welcome in the new year.  Thank you to Marion and Colin for such a wonderful evening. So New Year’s Day dawned very late for me.  Before I went out I peeled a lemon and added it to a large jug of water with some cucumber and celery.  It was perfect for drinking in the morning and actually so enjoyable I now have a jug permanently in the fridge. When I was hungry I made a simple smoothie with frozen bananas, half an avocado and a teaspoon of ‘Out of The Woods’,  half a teaspoon of matcha and some coconut water. This had a very mild flavour and was perfect for a woman with a hungover. I did excel myself later by cooking my family a roast chicken with roast potatoes and gravy but I only ate the chicken and vegetables, with no added fat.  I have to be better this year and I am starting immediately. In the evening I snacked on an apple and 2 tangerines and that was it.  A great start to 2015. I did really well again today too.  I have read that having hot water with lemon is a beneficial way to start the day.  I have also heard that hot water with honey and apple cider vinegar is good.  So I had them all in one glass; half a lemon in slices, 1 small teaspoon of honey and 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar.  Not bad. For breakfast I had half a small watermelon.  I scrapped out the melon seeds and blitzed them in the Vita Mix which I then poured over the chunks of watermelon.  Eating the seeds adds protein and makes the meal more substantial. It was a bit like a watermelon soup and was rather good.  Certainly very refreshing. For lunch I made a vegetable soup.  I made a chicken stock with the carcass from yesterday’s chicken and used that as the base.  I roasted 2 butternut squashes and 4 sweet potatoes with some sesame oil, fennel seeds, salt and pepper for 45 minutes at 180 °C. We like soup very smooth so I blended it in the Vita Mix.  A little bit of the stock blended with some chunks of roasted vegetables and any bits of leftover chicken.  It always takes longer than I think to make soup but it is well worth it. This was an excellent soup.   It had the perfect consistency and a rich and well rounded flavour.  Definitely one to make again.  Harvey had his with crackers but I just had 2 bowls of the soup. For supper I had a bowl of raw veggies and some chickpeas.  I dressed the salad with a very simple dressing made with olive oil and red wine vinegar.  That was it, nothing else was added. A very satisfying supper and I think I will conclude this evening’s eating with an apple.

I am not giving up anything this year, apart from processed foods.  I want to eat a plant based diet which means mainly fruits and veggies with wholefoods such as brown rice and other whole grains, seeds and nuts.  I will eat a small amount of meat and have the occasional glass of wine.  I don’t want to eat anything sweet such as cakes, biscuits and puddings.  I am also going to try to eat minimal amounts of dairy.

So far this year, so good.  I am going to be much healthier this year.