Day 2 of this lovely Juicemaster detox by the -hastobeseentobebelievedsuperlively – Jason Vale and I’ve not had any headaches, probably because I rarely drank caffeine and my spots are clearing up, YAY.

Nope, the only thing that is majorly different is feeling tired at odd times and not having a poo.  Well, I did, eventually, when I refused to get off the loo until I did.  Thank the iPhone gods for Solitaire to keep me amused.  All I’ll say about that is that it was ‘loose’ when it did finally arrive (don’t worry I’m not going to share the photo.. yet, as much as my Twitter friend Aka_K wants it, not).

It’s weird as I’m starting to feel clearer but at the same time I am feeling information overwhelm.  How to tackle this will hopefully come to me soon but having my big WHY I’m doing this, is sure making it all a lot easier – I want to get my sexy back.

It’s becoming like a mantra in my head… that and ‘will this make me happy?’

As I know you’re gagging to see me, cough, here’s the video for today

And here’s my Amazon link for the book I talk about Run Away from Fat: The 90-day Weight-loss Programme

Well here you have it.  Me in my (hated) bikini again and at the fattest I’ve been in 3 years.

But I’ve done it.  I woke this morning, on a freezing cold, extremely wet and windy November day and thought sod it.  I can’t ignore this anymore and if I don’t face up to where I am right now…

a) I soon won’t be able to do up my dressing gown up hahahaha

b) People will mistake me for a flower lady (if you’ve ever been to Worthing you’ll know what I mean… “Flowers are lahhhvely, do you want some?”

Anyway, instead of whining on about what I don’t want, I’ve decided to get off my ‘but’, inspired by a great book I’m reading at the moment and face the truth and change my focus.

Sorry if I’ve made you feel ill with my video, I know I’ve probably freaked poor Joanna Cake out with the wobbly bare flesh but it had to be done.

You see I have a special skill in that I’m able to either avoid all mirrors, or when I DO look in one, I refuse to see the reality.. so doing a video means I face facts.  Now I just need to find a photo of the body I do want so I can stick my head on it and put it on my fridge…

Weigh In Facts:

8 November 2010

Weight:  11 stone 5 lbs  / 159 lbs / 72 kg

Chest:   41″ / 105cm
Waist:   36″ / 92cm
Tummy:  41″ / 105cm
Thigh:   23″ / 59cm
Arm:   11.5″ / 29cm

Anyway today I decided enough was enough and I have to get over myself and push through the multitude of little challenges and JUST DO IT.   So here it is – the first video in my latest 2010 weight loss challenge and gawd I found it embarrassing to do (you’ll see me turn bright red) and well.. I’m horrified at the state I’ve eaten and drank myself into.  I can’t make changes until I acknowledge things though eh!

I need to make a specific plan I know.. if I have a plan I can then get organised and then I won’t need to ‘think’ about food every day – just one day a week.

I am not going to say I’m going to be 100% raw vegan. I am going to aim for 80% and hope to surpass it.

I will be eating a lot of fresh fruit, making green juices and as soon as I have new blender (blog post to follow about that saga), I’ll be creating lots of delicious green smoothies as I truly think they are the best thing ever.

I’m also going to get my raw food recipe books out and video them as I create.  If you’ve seen previous videos you’ll have a good idea that it doesn’t always go according to plan hahaha.

Indulgence will also be part of my repertoire this time.  In the form of raw icecreams and chocolate and  some of the denser foods in my dehydrator for when I crave different mouth feels or something ‘naughty’.

Then of course there’s the question of exercise…  (moves swiftly on)

So for the record, here’s my weight and measurements for Day 1

Weight:  10st 10lb / 150lb / 68kg

Body Fat: 35%

Chest: 40″ / 101.5cm

Waist: 34″ / 86.5cm

Belly: 40″ / 101.5cm

Thigh: 23.5″ / 60cm

Arm: 12″ / 30.5cm

I’m 5′ 1.5″ / 156cm tall

Please tell me your favourite recipes and I’ll give them ago.  Thanks for your support!

Sarah x

Last week I was 10st 7lb / 147lb / 66.4kg and 35% body fat

This week I am 10st 5.5lb / 145.5lb / 66kg and 33% body fat

So although not a huge difference, there still IS a difference, despite my being on my period so it’s not completely horrendous.   I forgot to take my measurements so I’ll do those in the morning and update this post then.. better find the tape measure.

Positive changes I’ve noticed?  My hair and skin are softer, in fact my hair is a lot less frizzy.  My friends tell me I am looking more ‘sparkly’ and I just feel a lot lighter generally – so that’s great!

Sure I can do more.  And maybe I will do a short juice feast for  a few days.  Definitely writing my menu plan last week was a great help and so I need to sit and do it again as I’m SURE you’ve loved my recipe videos *grin*

To update you, as I’ve not been around much since last Thursday, I’ve been helping one of my sisters do a house clearance sale, packing and moving stuff so she can embark on a radical lifestyle change. I find clearing out the clutter is a great exercise, even if it’s not mine! How weird, eh? *lol*

The kids groaned though, as I came home and started going through our cupboards and also encouraging them to sort through their crap, I mean, treasures.

This evening, I’m probably going to have a go at listing stuff on eBay and also reselling some books via Amazon – am wondering if the effort/reward ratio is going to be incentive enough to do the whole lot or if I’ll end up carting it down to the local charity shop instead…

In the video there are actually three recipes – one for marinated mushrooms (omg soooooo yummy), one for red pepper sauce from Kate Magic Wood’s Eat Smart Eat Raw book and finally putting it altogether for the RRRrrr! Lettuce Wraps.

Today has not been as productive as the rest of the week I think and this really is down to the fact I didn’t  drag my butt back out of bed and get my notepad to plan my day last night… that really HAS made a big difference for me.  So now I know I MUST do that to get more done.

So what have I been up to?  Well today a made granola – I soaked the nuts and seeds for it last night.  Yep, with this raw vegan food prep thing I do have to be a bit organised *groan* but hey, hopefully it will soon become a great habit and second nature to me…  well, ya never know *lol*

I also soaked some stuff to sprout and rinsed and drained them this morning and I’ll do it again this evening.. ummm I shall do a picture journey for you so you can see what’s going on there and I’ll show you the ‘timeline’ so to speak, at the end.

So yes, granola which is in the deyhdrator and now I’m stuffed full of lettuce wraps I’ll find it easier to stay away from snacking on it… so daft that I even tell myself  ‘Yes Sarah, you must just test a bit to see how much longer it needs’ – such a pork pie!

I went to see my sister Nicola this morning so had green tea instead of my juice then came home and made my Lush Lunchbox smoothie which I put on the blog earlier – sooooo mmmm…  I then had some time free that I could have squeezed some exercise into but ermmm went through all my emails instead and got completely distracted so that’s two days now where I haven’t really exercised apart from housework.  May have to make myself wake at 6am and start running again.  I hate the cold tho *sniff*

Ok, I’m off to relax and digest on the sofa now and breathe the most amazing garlic breath on any stray child that is foolish enough to come near me.  Oh, great news btw – I didn’t snack on their dinner when I made it!!!  (I am wondering when my bowels are going to start working more regularly though as I still feel incredibly fat and bloated at the moment… hmmm… maybe premenstrual? I hope so then it may magically disappear..  ooh talking about magic, I may actually buy a lottery ticket this weekend as it’s stupid figures in the euro I think.  Anyway I shall stop sharing my thoughts and b**ger off.  Byeeee x

Needless to say they were delicious – in fact I have one left over as I couldn’t eat three – eyes bigger than gut as usual *grin* and a top tip from my culinary experience with this receipe – mix the ingredients in a bowl BEFORE putting the mushrooms in.  I’m sure Matthew would roll his eyes that someone could be that dumb to have plonked the mushrooms in THEN sploshed everything in with them.  D’oh.. I will get better at this raw uncooking malarky I’m sure…

Anyway, enjoy the video and watch out for a very surprising cameo by my son.

Ok update from yesterday’s video.. gawd my memory is bad.  I remember doing really well umm maybe I should check my tweets – you can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/sarahcairncross btw.  I also remember having to cook sausage and mash with gravy for Spencer and well.. well that was the only bit of my day that wasn’t raw as omg I HAD to taste some mash, potatoes really are my downfall  

Never mind! Only a small blip and today I’ve done juices that I’ve made up on the spot – swampy was particularly yummy and I think tomorrow I’ll get the pictures off my camera and create a Flickr account for you to perv over them all.

I quite enjoy throwing stuff randomly together, on the whole they even taste pretty good *grin*

So I’m feeling quite pleased with myself at the moment and although I did scoff a few of the garlic prawns I made for the kids dinner tonight, I have eaten raw all the rest of the time AND drunk lots of water and I’m really enjoying it.

I am getting sugar cravings and have been eating medjool dates and also some macadamia nuts and dried cranberries but am conscious I need to not overdose on those things if I want to lose weight.  But hey, nuts and dates are a bloomin’ better than icecream and biscuits *lol*

Until tomorrowwwww… byeee 

Well I survived the humiliation of getting in my bikini in yesterday’s video and have received some great supportive comments – so thank you x

I’ve just done a video for Day 2 which I’ll add now and I may put some more thoughts to this post at the end of the day…

If you didn’t catch it in the video, the books I talk about are below – they are clickable affiliate links to take you through to Amazon so you can find out more about them and buy if you fancy it:

Jason Vale – 7lbs in 7 Days Super Juice Diet

Ani Phyo – Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen

Jennifer Cornbleet – Raw Food Made Easy

And the juice I made up had in it:

• 4 large carrots
• piece of lemon with rind
• small chunk of ginger, peeled
• 1/3 cucumber
• 2 handfuls of curly kale

I do feel really tired again at the moment but am very pleased that Jack Canfield’s video that Heather sent me, is definitely working for me and highly recommend it!

• think about what you want to get done the next day
• write out a list
• put what time you are going to do for each item

This helped me as it focussed on what I wanted to do.  Made me think about what I could realistically achieve in one day – giving myself PLENTY of time for each thing, especially with stuff I know I’ll procrastinate about. And of course letting my subconscious think about it while I sleep seems to have weirdly help my resolve.  Now I just have to keep repeating the process *grin*… and of course I’ll let you know if I got everything done

Off to drink more water now, as I want to get at least 2 litres down my neck every day.  There is a cunning way to work out exactly how much water you should be drinking and will look it up for you in case you want to work it out.  I’m doing it as I know I’m dehydrated – just take a look at my skin.. and also as I’m detoxing, I want to make sure I flush as much of the crap out of my body as quickly as possible.  ERmmm ok, I really DO have to stop typing now as I need the loo again *lol*

Well after my very despondent, miserable moments in my last video, I’m feeling heaps better.

My help with the rent was approved so we don’t have to move YAY!  Which also means I don’t have to sell my lovely little mini just yet which is FAB news as it’s just so freaking cold still and the thought of having to walk everywhere would not be fun, or indeed the whining from my kids (and yes! she does start first time unless something comes loose).

Last night I started a new gratitude journal, writing in all things that I was grateful for that day, before I slept.  I also decided to write down what I wanted to get done the next day and spookily my sister Heather sent me a link to a video about this very subject this morning which I’ll post for you below.  It means I’m going to tweak this process so it’s more effective!

So last week I was focussing more on what I do have and would like to have more of in my life, after having a wonderful weekend in Devon and was reading an email from Raw Food Rehab (http://bit.ly/di6UDp) which is a great community group set up for people who are looking to specifically lose weight by adopting the raw food diet – check it out!  Anyway, Penni was talking about doing a 28 day challenge for February and it caught my attention and I mulled it over and although I’ve not got her book yet from Amazon – Raw Food Cleanse – I thought, sod it!  28 days sounds achievable and I have been feeling like crap and I want to feel great again.

It’s also my 40th birthday in August and I want to love how I look in photos!

So yesterday I decided to set myself the goal of doing a high raw diet for February and see where it takes me.  And as i KNOW you love to see what I’m up to, I’m going to diarise it for you here!  Because this series of videos IS about losing weight – I’m the biggest I’ve been in ages – I’m going to get in my sodding bikini once a week to help motivate me.  So here’s today’s flab shot for you *grin*

Ok here are the gory statistics in print for you too:

Weight:  10st 7lb / 147lb / 66.6kg

Chest:       39.5″ / 100cm
Waist:       33″ / 84cm
Tummy:  40.5″ / 103cm
Thigh:      22.5″ / 57cm
Arm:        12″ / 30.5cm

It’s not pretty but it’s really interesting to note how distended my tummy is from all the rubbish I’ve been eating and I hate to think what state my intestines are in.. lol.. yes I am going to be exploring all kinds of things during this 28 day challenge.

I want to keep this achievable to I’m aiming for 90% or more raw vegan diet during this time – I don’t expect to be 100% all the time but 90% is a challenge for me and I want to kick my processed sugar addiction to the curb with this challenge.

I also want to clear my skin, start to glow again, think more clearly and regain purpose.

I want to be stronger in all areas – mental, emotional, physical and spiritual and intend on moving my fat arse for at least 30 minutes every day minimum, instead of staying sat at my computer.  I know, I can hear you say OMG, 30 minutes, is that all *lol*…. as I said, I want this to be achievable and that is a MINIMUM.  I shall share what I do when I blog about it.

Ok, what’s happened today?  I woke up and meditated (which is something I want to make a daily habit again).  I went for a very brisk walk on the South Downs for half an hour, fuelled by a fruit smoothie I had.  Came home and made myself a green juice of carrot, apple, salad leaves, savoy cabbage, spirulina, udos oil.  Drank lots of hot water with chunks of lemon.

Danger time for me is when I cook for the kids in the evening.. so even though I snacked on a couple of Medjool dates, half an avocado and some nuts and berries.. I still ended up eating some of their chilli I made – just the quorn mix and no rice (or cheese or nachos), and it wasn’t a huge amount.. but still it wasn’t raw.  I feel proud I never scoffed ANY apple crumble and icecream though! A miracle I tell you!

So now, I’ve actually done some food shopping I’ll be able to make myself a lot more juices and some salad tomorrow which will help me.  I also need to make a 7 day meal plan and go an shop for it!  Dull but if I want to succeed I know I have to do this.

Anyway, enough waffle for today – here’s the Jack Canfield video I watched today that I mentioned earlier on how to plan your day.  Hope it helps you too x

Having porked out on my raw food goodies that came in my GoodnessDirect.co.uk box,  I thought I’d share what I thought of them with you in this video.

In the spirit of speaking more my truth this year, I also share a bit about what was going through my head today in response to a comment…

Ummm what else has happened? Well I’ve picked up my mini which is all working again now and am grateful for every day I have her until I she gets sold, maybe sometime real soon – will be hard not having a car maybe – or maybe I’ll just end up with a great ass and toned legs.

Funnily enough, looking through my list of things, I have yet again put back starting on my vision board – why on earth is this? Why do I find it so hard to think about things I want?  Ok that is going to be the only thing on my list of what to do tomorrow.  I just KNOW it is important not sure why it’s so important yet, but I know it.

So what am I going to do this evening? Munch on some carrot and hummous – I just cooked bangers and mash for my son, Spud, and had to have a couple of mouthfuls of mash and gravy… which is pretty good for me to stop there as I love it so much and it IS so cold today.  Can’t understand how my daughter continues to walk to her friends with no proper coat on – teenagers *rolls eyes and pretends she’s grown up herself*

Morrrrning

Well I started off today with a brief meditation, not as deep as yesterday – may listen to a cd later to go deeper.  I then went for a run – YES – two days on the trot! Well, maybe run is not quite correct a description.. I sometimes felt like I was travelling marginally faster than a speeding snail but hey, I did it despite all the frost on the pavements.

Got kids off to school – they had to use the bus as my mini is in the garage.  Dead battery and while it’s in there, getting the steering checked over after I had to do an emergency stop the other week and hit a curb… *cross fingers it’s not going to be anything major*.  They just rang me in fact to tell me that to replace the driving lamp that got nicked (ffs), will cost  me at least £50.  Errrmmmm… ok I shall look on the internet for that.

So, before I could think about it any more, I sat down and opened my post (after reading highly irritating email from soon-to-be-ex-husband).  Gawd, ignoring my post for most of December really was not a good idea – I’m being threatened with court action over non-payment of something.  ARSE.  Hey, I did say I was going to share everything with you this year… Hmmm.. ok I must face up to these things and phone them later.  Also need to check what’s happening with rent money before I end up homeless.  Mind you, the kids will have to go live with their Dad if that happens and he may appreciate what parental responsibility really means then… muhahahaha

Is it just me or does the fantasy of trying to run away from it all affect other people too?  Maybe it’s the time of year. And yes, I know, I know, it will all just follow me.

Anyway, I’ve decided to stop burying my head in the sand and sort myself out – new improved me for 2010 and all that.   And that means improved emotions, finances, confidence, body with an even greater spiritual connection.  The only way is UP baby!

So having devoured a smoothie, a bar of raw chocolate (maybe I was kidding myself when I said you can’t eat too much in one go) and also one of the nakd ‘premium raw fruit, nut & oat bar  (which was yummy) I’m just reviewing what I said I’d do yesterday to see what I’ve not done.   Making sense? Nah, I didn’t think so *lol*

Ok stuff I didn’t do yesterday that I have to do today:

• One step to move my business forward – I want to start earning money from doing this – following my passion.  Hmmm.. make a plan?
• Start my 2010 vision board
• Go food shopping – plan meals and buy lots of fresh fruit and vegetables please!  The kids don’t know it yet, but they will be getting vegetarian meals from now on.

Plus I need to:

• Phone creditors
• Check rent situation / make payment / maybe give notice?
• Go for a walk
• Phone Maggie and thank her and Paul for the present
• Respond to YouTube comments
• Twitter
• Smile!