Hangover Cure

We had guests yesterday; Kate's family came round. Her mum & dad just returned from Tenerife, so we all got together for a few drinks.

I get bad hangovers, seriously debilitating type hangovers. And I haven't had a drink for weeks, and not a 'real' drink for months, so when that first glass of bubbly touched my lips I knew I'd feel bad today, but sometimes you just wanna have a good time, right!

So the corks kept popping and the prosecco kept flowing and after a few glasses I wasn't counting anymore.

And this morning the most unusual thing happened - no hangover. I mean, I felt a bit sluggish, but not the usual headache, nausea, dizziness and other general feelings of shitiness associated with the morning after.

Which leaves me to come to only one logical explanation which is this: my newly adopted healthy diet and fluid intake is a hangover cure!

Can anyone corroborate this?

2 Litres of Water Each Day

It's recommended we drink 2 litres of water / fluids per day. It doesn't seem like a lot, but the discipline of it is something I'm finding really difficult.

When I was at home last week, I filled up a bottle each day and used to gauge my water intake. Even this wasn't as easy as it sounds. For example, for a cup of tea (caffeine free), I pour out a cup full of water, empty this down the drain, then re-fill the cup from the kettle.

Now I'm back at work, the system has gone to pot and I have no idea how much I'm drinking.

Does anyone have a solution for this?

Porridge

I tried porridge today! For the first time ever! That's right, I have survived 37 years without this globby substance which everyone tells me is soooo good for me. That is, I don't think I've ever tried it before. If I have I certainly don't remember, so I thought it was about time I gave it a go.

First impressions, it's OK. It's certainly palatable. The best thing about it is I made it in a pan with water, which tasted a bit boring, so now I'm thinking of all the different ways I can liven it up without adding sugar.

There must be hundreds of different preferences of making porridge around the world. I'd be really interested in hearing your favourites.

I think I'll be enjoying porridge for breakfast from now on and I could kick myself for not giving it a fair go earlier, but it looks so horrible!

I have a question. Bearing in mind I bought the Tesco Value bag in case I didn't like it and this cost me 60p, what's the difference between this and the other stuff on the shelf which was 3 quid? Surely oats is oats!

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So, Exactly What Have I Given Up This Week?

 As a bit of insight I thought I'd list what I've given up this week and my usual intake:

• Alcohol - my relationship with alcohol is probably worthy of its own blog, haha. I used to drink a lot. I decided to stop drinking altogether around September last year, had the odd glass of wine at Christmas and this year I'd say I've been drinking roughly 2 bottles of wine per week.

• Nicotine - I smoke occasionally (if I've had a drink). I've never been a heavy smoker, but I've smoked on and off since I was about 17. I quit the same time I stopped drinking last year.

• Caffeine - Fortunately, I took this week off. Next week will be tough when I return to work. At the office I have a cup of tea or coffee every 15 minutes (no joke). I'll be sure to take plenty of fruit tea bags! I take sugar in my tea & coffee, so I've also given up that 15 minute hit!

• Sugar - I actually can't believe I've managed this. Previously, when I've given up drink, cigs, or both, chocolate has been a great substitute for the cravings and because I'm not fat I've never considered sugar a health risk or anything like that, just went ahead and ate as much as I liked chocolate, sweets, cakes, whatever. It's surprised me where you find sugar too. We were in M&S today and saw a pack of Vanilla Pumpkin Seeds. Sounded like a healthy snack to me but thought I'd better check the ingredients. Guess what? Sugar. Another thing, it's been a discipline to open a pack of sweets for the kids and resist taking a few for myself.

• Dairy - I don't drink a great deal of milk, only in tea & coffee, so it's been no big deal giving it up. We've got too much milk in the fridge now though, haha. Cheese, however, is a different story. I loooove cheese! I include it in a lot of the food I make and it's left a big hole in my diet.

• Wheat Products - It seems wheat is in everything! and stuff I thought I couldn't live without.  I think I've had a wheat based lunch every day of my life; sandwich, burger, fajita wrap, pasta pot. I think it's the wheat intake that makes me full and the absence of it at the start of the week made me feel constantly hungry.

• Red Meat - I love a good steak! No further comment.

• Junk Food - Ashamedly, I confess to eating too much McDonald's (2-3 times per week), and liking it :-) I've learned this week it's easier than I thought to create a tasty healthy lunch, I don't need to go for the convenience option.

• Snacks - I snack a lot. I have a habit of opening a large bag of crisps while I'm cooking. This week I replaced crisps with nuts. Nuts are a great snack.

• Chocolate - We all love chocolate. The kids love chocolate. They ask for it all day long, which doesn't help. It's got easier as the week's progressed. At first, the craving was horrendous!

So there you go. I think that's the 'not allowed' list. It's a lot to give up cold turkey, but what's amazing is I've got a much deeper appreciation now of naturally occurring sugars in fruit and naturally occurring salts (although I've been adding salt to meals).

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1 Week Detox

It was last week when Kate said she wanted to do a 1 week detox. I agreed to show my support and do it too. She's read more about it than me, my understanding of it is this:

• No Dairy
• No Wheat
• No Sugar
• No Caffeine

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 We're now 4 days in. We started on Monday. We started preparations on Sunday, with a trip to the supermarket and filled up on fruit and veg. We picked up a steamer while we were there. Oh, and a garlic crusher. We were 100% committed to doing this!

Monday and Tuesday we had Salmon, Wednesday Chicken.

Monday's Salmon was grilled (topped with lemon juice and garlic), served on a bed of spinach with asparagus and avocado.

Tuesday's Salmon was steamed, topped with dill and a squeeze of lemon, served with brown basmati rice.

Wednesday's Chicken was a pasta dish, with 'free from' pasta. 

We're allowed white meat and fish, but apparently it's good practice to go totally vegetarian for 1 day of the week. So, today was the day. I wasn't ready sooner, haha. I made a vegetable curry.

Breakfast so far this week has been omelette (we're allowed as many eggs as we like).

I've eaten more fruit than ever before!

It's recommended to snack on fruit or nuts in the event we get peckish (peckish? try famished!)

We must drink at least 2 litres of water each day. I haven't been measuring my intake so unsure if I've reached this quota daily, but have been drinking lots of hot water & lemon and a variety of herbal teas.

Considering what our diet was like before this week, we've surprised ourselves with our fidelity. A lots been learned and I'm hoping this is the start of a much healthier lifestyle for us.

The next challenge is getting the kids involved! haha (good luck with that!)

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