Day 7 - A flop of 'what ifs'

It's days like today i get myself down by thinking 'if only' or 'what if'. If only we didn't have to do a research project in our week off then i would have joined the group of medicine friends from Perth down in Denmark at the beginning of the week and had a wonderful time with them all and Kyle. If only i didn't start this medication i could be in Denmark now with Kyle and his family and feeling well. I woke up with every intention of heading to Denmark, but just felt yuck :( I don't know if i am getting the cold mum and dad have been fighting but i know it is also part to do with the new pill i started taking a week ago. I thought i was going well the first few days but now that the levels have reached what they need to be in my body which means some side effects have kicked in, mainly nausea and a few headaches. It is hard to be a girl! But i will keep going and keep it up until the side effects have worn off (hopefully).

I had a little walk outside with mum and the dogs to try get some fresh air which helped in the sunlight between showers, the freshness was just what i needed.

                       

                         

   
                                                            
If only i didn't have my sore foot i could run and relieve some tension.... why can't it get better?? But apart from running when i feel low, i bake :) So today i made wholemeal blueberry muffins with no sugar, we didn't have any ripe bananas for the recipe which sort of made them like muffin-biscuits or rock cakes but i like them and they are the first thing i have made so i can still eat my treats. I was going to start on Monday but have been experimenting and also swapped my muesli this morning for porridge and cinnamon and am making to move to use shredded coconut on yoghurt instead of honey :)

I have been thinking about this challenge and would really like to see if i can do it for the 8 weeks, mainly because i feel like i eat too many sweet foods and you know you do when your family laughs at the thought of you cutting back. But sweet foods are part of me and part of my life, part of gathering with friends and family and part of allowing yourself something sweet to realise that life itself is sweet. Those sweet treats are there to balance out the bitterness of life and are the foundation to create so many sweet memories. So my goal is to try get rid of sugar for 8 weeks as a 'detox' and to reduce my sugar cravings, i would rather have that something sweet on a special occasion such as birthdays or celebrations or with friends and not because i have succumbed to cravings that tells me i need sugar when i get stressed such as with uni and exams. So when i have reduced those cravings, then i will slowly introduce sweets back into my life in moderation :)
I want to keep my sweets for the sweet parts of my life :)

So for now here is the muffin recipe i made today... 

No-added sugar banana blueberry wholemeal muffins

             

Ingredients - Serves: 18

•          2 medium bananas mashed
•          1 egg
•          ½ cup (125ml) water
•          125ml vegetable oil
•          2 cups (250g) wholemeal flour
•          1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
•          2¼ teaspoons baking powder
•          1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preparation method

Prep: 15 minutes | Cook: 15 minutes

Preheat an oven to 180 degrees C. Grease 18 muffin cups, or line with patty cups.

Mix together mashed bananas, egg, water, and oil in a large bowl. Mix in flour, baking soda, and baking powder until mostly smooth (you will still see lumps from the banana, but that's okay!). Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 15 minutes. Remove muffins from tins, and cool on a wire rack.

The mixture ready to go

Baking away :)

Yum! (and NO sugar) 

 I love these grainy-rye rolls with tuna, sun-dried tomato, avocado and spinach leaves for lunch :) Fresh foods for a fresh body and mind!

 

I was feeling a little better after lunch and was very happy for mum to be taking me out to the pool, it was just what i needed! Mum had a little swim in the walking lap lane and i did 2km in the lap pool, after not being able to run and feeling yuck the swim was perfect and made me feel a lot better. Exercise you are my savior. I hope to try swim more to rehabilitate my foot and still keep up fitness at the same time while up in Perth. (Mum was a little sneaky with the camera in the pool area)

      

        

We also found our names still marked in some tiles out the front of the sports centre from when we were in Primary School...

   

           













And i loved the sun setting behind Percy so had to take a portrait :)

Pretty Percy :)

I also made yummy pumpkin soup for dinner with mums grated tumeric for extra flavour and of course its many benefits as a wonder food! I look forward to lunch tomorrow...

Home grown - home made pumpkin soup with tumeric and pepper  next to a warm fire sitting on a comfy chair after a phone call from my boyfriend... a cure for any flop in life 

And so with little lovable things in my life at the end of the day i am leaving my 'what ifs' behind and i turned my 'flops' upside down.